Kishore Kumar (August 4, 1929 – October 13, 1987) was an
Indian film
playback singer and actor.
Born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, he changed his name to Kishore Kumar and started his cinema career as a chorus singer at
Bombay Talkies.
Music director Khemchand Prakash gave him a chance to sing the song
Marne ki duayen kyon mangu for the film
Ziddi (1948). After this, Kishore Kumar got a large number of other assignments.
He also achieved notable success as a director, screenwriter, scriptwriter and ofcourse as an actor!
It is very interesting to know that the legendary
Salil Chowdhury, the music director for
Naukri was initially dismissive of him as a singer, when he came to know that Kishore Kumar didn't have any formal training in music. However, after hearing his voice, he gave him the song
Chhota sa ghar hoga, which was supposed to be sung by
Hemant Kumar.
Another legendary music director S. D. Burman is credited with spotting Kishore Kumar's talent as a singer, and advancing his singing career!
It is amazing to know that Kishore Kumar did not have a formal training in music and it is he who made yodelling his trademark and applied yodelling with a new zeal to his songs! The songs
Main Hoon Jhumroo and
Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni from Jhumroo,
Nakhrewali from New Delhi,
Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan from
Pyar Ka Mausam, and
Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana from
Andaz (1971),
Thodi Si Jo Pi Lee Hai from
Namak Halaal (1982) are wonderful & great examples of yodelling in Hindi film music!
Kishore Kumar was a rebellious singer. He sang in unorthodox style and created a style of his own very much different from the singing style of playback singers of his era and even the post Kishore era. In the late 1960s, S. D. Burman's son,
Rahul Dev Burman started patronising Kishore Kumar & he won his first
Filmfare award for the song
Roop Tera Mastana in the film Aradhana, directed by R.D. Burman! R. D. Burman considered Kishore Kumar his favorite singer, and recorded several hit songs with him in the 1970s.
Kishore Kumar was a prolific vocalist and sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. And, he was the leading male
Bollywood playback singer from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. On October 13 1987, he died of a heart attack in Mumbai. He recorded his last song a day before he died. The song was
Guru O Guru, a duet with
Asha Bhosle, for the film
Waqt Ki Aawaz (1988) composed by
Bappi Lahiri for Mithun Chakraborty.
Kishore Kumar's voice inspired many upcoming Bollywood singers, including
Kumar Sanu,
Abhijeet,
Vinod Rathod and
Babul Supriyo. After his death, many of his songs have been remixed or re-sung by several artists!
He won the prestigious Filmfare award 8 times; starting with the 1969
Roop tera mastaana from Aradhana he continued winning it 7 more times; 1975
Dil aisa kisi ne from
Amanush. 1978
Khaike Pan Banaras Wala from
Don, 1980
Om Shanti Om from
Karz, 1982
Pag ghunghroo baandh from
Namak Halaal, 1983
Hamen aur jeene ki from
Agar Tum Na Hote, 1984
Manzilen apni jagah from
Sharaabi, 1985
Saagar Kinaare from
Saagar all honoured him with the prestigious National award!