Collections
The Eccentric Singer of Bollywood – Kishore Kumar
This man is still known as the most successful singer of Hindi cinema and proves to be an idol for many other singers. Abhas Kumar Ganguly was his name. After entering the Bollywood he changed his name to Kishore Kumar and he became the identity of Hindi music from there on.
Kumar was born on 4th August 1929 to a Bengali family in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. He was the youngest among the four siblings, Ashok Kumar being the eldest, then Sati Devi, and next was Anoop. Kumar way towards the Bollywood was lead by his elder brother Ashok Kumar who was already an established actor when Kumar was still a child. It was not only Kumar but Anoop also made his way to Bollywood with the help of actor Ashok Kumar.
Coming back to Kumar, this follower of singer K. L. Saigal embarked his journey in the movies by singing chorus at Bombay Talkies. It is needless to say that Kumar donned different hats of actor and direction but singing was something that he was more interested in. His first break came with Khemchand Prakash who gave Kumar chance to sing ‘Marne Ki Duayen Kyu Mangu’ for the film Ziddi (1948). From then, time holds record that Kumar became one of the biggest names in the Bollywood.
Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958) was a movie of his home production and the three brothers acted in the movie along with Madhubala. S. D. Burman was the one who recognised the immense talent in Kumar and the partnership continued for hit movies like Munimji (1954), Nau Do Gyarah (1957), Paying Guest (1957), Guide (1965), Prem Pujari (1970). The saga of his hit music continued with Burman’s son, R. D. Burman as well. Padosan (1968) proved to be a great musical hit of the year in which Kumar not only gave his voice but played a vital role. In 1969, Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana became a blockbuster at the silver screen and the song ‘Roop Tera Mastana’ won the singer his first Filmfare award. Kumar directed, produced and acted in the movie Jhumroo (1961).
In the era of 70s and 80s Kumar already established him as one of the greatest singer of the Bollywood and got opportunity to work with music directors like Kalyanji – Anandji, Laxmikant – Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri and Rajesh Roshan. His versatile singing helped him gain accolade while he shared his duet experience with legendary singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and holds record to give voice to actors from Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra to Kumar Gaurav, Govinda and Jackie Shroff.
His extraordinary contribution as a singer had added one more feather to his hat as he holds the record of winning the most number of Filmfare award in the best playback singer category counting down to 8 awards in total. After changing the outlook of the Hindi music industry this legend died on 13th October, 1987 in Mumbai. Kumar’s personal life went through lot of turbulence and he got married four times. Amit Kumar, his son from his first marriage is also a singer.
Kumar was known for his eccentric behaviour, but he is the person who changed the wave of the music industry including Bengali, Asamese, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Kannada, Gujrati, Odiya, Malayalam, Odiya and mainly Hindi. He is a legend who is not only followed but worshipped by music lovers and words will never do justice to the mark he has left in the arena of Indian cinema.
Here to share with you some award winning songs by Kishore Kumar.
The song that all would love to tap our feet till now – the Banaras wala song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUoZGpqyEe0
This song won the singer his first Filmfare award. A sensuous song from the movie Aradhana.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HenA-OUyo0s
One of the deadly combination of Benagli movies featuring in the Bollywood – Uttam Kumar and Kishore Kumar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=643S5y_E6Zo
Classic song from the movie Thodisi Bewafaii.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHVkdFjlSCk
Humour at it’s best by the duo Amitabh Bachchan and the singer.
‘Agar Kishore Kumar na Hote’- This song wouldn’t have been this beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foaU-2n6WUs
Yet another hit by the duo – the Shahensha and Kumar for those ‘manzilen’
Kishore Kumar crooning for Rishi Kapoor, a song considered as one of the best romantic songs in Bollywood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhF6sjaYBMc
