In Bollywood, Kishore Kumar is remembered as a person who entertained cinema lovers only with the magic of his voice but also with filmmaking and direction. When the youngest child was born in the middle -class Bengali family on August 4, 1929 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, who knew that this child would later illuminate the name of his country and family.
Among the siblings, the youngest naughty, Kumar Ganguly alias Kishore Kumar, was trending towards the father’s profession from childhood, not towards music. Kishore Kumar, influenced by the songs of great actor and singer KL Sehgal, wanted to become a singer like him. Kishore Kumar reached Mumbai at the age of 18, but his wish could not be fulfilled. By that time, his elder brother Ashok Kumar had made his mark as an actor. Ashok Kumar wanted Kishore to make his mark as a hero but Kishore Kumar himself wanted to become a playback singer instead of performance.
Kishore Kumar had never taken early music education from anyone. He was getting work as an actor due to Ashok Kumar’s identity in Bollywood. Unlike his wish, Kishore Kumar continued to act. The films in which he used to work as an artist used to get a chance to sing in that film. Kishore Kumar’s voice used to match Sehgal to a great extent. As a singer, he first got the opportunity to sing ‘Kyun Mangu Kyun Mangu’ for actor Devanand in Bombay Talkies’s film ‘Jiddi’ in the year 1948.
Kishore Kumar started his career with the film ‘Movement’ in 1951 but could not make his mark among the audience with this film. The film ‘Girl’, released in the year 1953, was the first hit of her career as an actor. After this, as an actor, Kishore Kumar entertained the audience through his films. Kishore Kumar also directed many films such as two dacoits, distant Rahi, growing name beard, Shabas daddy, somewhere in distant litigants, Chalti Nam and Mamta Ki Chhaon, after Kishore Kumar stepped into the field of direction through the film ‘Door Gagan Ki Chhaan Mein’.
Apart from direction, Kishore Kumar also gave music in many films including films like Jhumru, far away Gagan Ki Chhaan, Kor Rahi, Bhoomi Akash and Mamta Ki Chhaan Mein. As a producer, Kishore Kumar also made films like far away in Gagan Ki Chhaon and distant Rahi. Kishore Kumar also had to see the round in his career when he did not get work in films. He was then forced to live his life by presenting the program on stage.
During one such stage program held in Bombay, when composer OP Nayyar heard his song, he said, “Great talent is often born but a playback singer like Kishore Kumar is born only once in a thousand years.” His statement was also supported by the playback singer Asha Bhosle sitting with him. In 1969, Kishore Kumar became the unconscious king of the world through producer director Shakti Samanta’s film Aradhana, but the interesting thing is that at the beginning of the film, composer Sachin Dev Varman wanted that all the songs should not be lost with one singer and lost two singers.
Later, his son RD Burman gave music in the film Aradhana due to Sachin Dev Burman’s illness. The songs ‘Mere Sapne Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu’ and ‘Roop Tera Mastana’ sang for this film, which was very much liked. Kishore Kumar received the first Filmfare Award as a singer to sing Roop Tera Mastana. With this, through the film Aradhana, he reached the heights for which he came to Mumbai to Mumbai.
Hardil Aziz artist Kishore Kumar was also a victim of controversies many times. He was invited to sing at a cultural event in Delhi during the Emergency organized in the country in 1975. Kishore Kumar sought remuneration and his singing on Akashvani and Doordarshan was banned. After the Emergency was removed, his first song played on 5 January 1977, ‘Dukhi Mana Mere Sun Mera Kehna, where not Chaena is not there’. Kishore Kumar received the Filmfare Award eight times for the songs sung by him.
Kishore Kumar gave his voice for more than 600 Hindi films in his entire film career. He also made the audience in Bangla, Marathi, Asami, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri and Oriya films through his charming voice. Kishore Kumar lent his voice to many actors but on some occasions Mohammad Rafi sang songs for him. We have some sorrow in these songs, you have no sorrow, there is no fear, where do you go to live, Bhagam Bhag, Man Babra Nis Din Jaay, Ragini, Hai Dastan Teri this life is included.
Interestingly, Mohammad Rafi used to take only one rupee remuneration to sing songs for Kishore Kumar. In 1987, Kishore Kumar decided that he would return to his village Khandwa after retiring from films. He often used to say that ‘Milk will eat Jalebi, settled in Khandwa’ but his dream remained incomplete. He suffered a heart attack on 13 October 1987 and said goodbye to the world.
