Kishore Kumar – The father of unconventional singing

Kishore Kumar needs no introduction. Be it the 70s’ Gen X or today’s Gen Z, it would be hard to find even a single person who does not admire his art, his singing skills or even his acting. He was not just a singer, but a companion for every heartbroken person or those falling in love. He had a song for every mood. His untrained voice ruled the industry for decades. Today is Kishore Kumar’s 93rd birth anniversary. On this occasion, we present to you the many stories based on the life of the maestro.

The untrained voice which continues to rule Indian music industry

Born on August 4, 1929, in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Kumar’s Bollywood career was quite interesting. He acted in films like ‘Andolan’, ‘Naukari’ and ‘Musafir’ and also produced and directed some films in the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as ‘Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi’, ‘Zindagi’ and ‘Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin’.

However, what Kishore Kumar really enjoyed was playback singing. It was S. D. Burman who recognised Kishore’s inner talent as a playback singer. You might be surprised to know that the actor had never taken music training before joining films. Kishore Kumar’s elder brother Ashok once told that the former’s voice was very bad in childhood, like a torn bamboo.

Kishore has sung about 1500 songs in his singing career many of which were evergreen and superhit songs. Such was his versatility that even the music directors used to get surprised. He used to record the songs in one go and that too, without practice.

Kishore Kumar, interestingly, also used to sing in the girl’s voice too. In the song titled ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhagi Si’, Kishore lent his voice to the girl.

The love life full of tragedy

While Kishore Kumar had fame, a career and money, he was lonely in his personal life. He tried four times and got married to four different women but ended up being alone and unhappy. His first wife was Satyajit Ray’s niece, Ruma Guha Thakurta. However, the marriage did not work out and both parted ways in 1958.

Then, he found love in the eyes of the most talented actress in Bollywood, Madhubala. While many claim that he converted to Islam to marry Madhubala, the latter’s sister Madhur Bhushan recently spoke about the incident. Rubbishing rumours that Kishore changed his religion to Islam Madhur said, “A lot of people say that Kishore Kumar had converted to Islam to marry Madhu apa, but that’s not true. He was a Hindu and he passed away a Hindu. None of the husbands who married into our family changed their religion.”

However, the marriage couldn’t succeed as the actress passed away in 1969. She had a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Born as a ‘blue baby’, she had a hole in her heart wall that separates the right and the left ventricles. A few years after the demise of Madhubala, he tried to move on and got married to Yogeeta Bali in 1976. But, Yogeeta fell in love with Mithun Chakraborty. After 2 years of their marriage, they got divorced.

He, then, married Leena Chandavarkar but she became widowed at the mere age of 25. Despite having so many people around him, love was always missing from Kishore Kumar’s life.

When Kishore refused to bow down to Indira Gandhi

Vidya Charan Shukla was Indira Gandhi government’s leading “propagandist”. He had the power to censure media and make artists follow his commands. While most of them bowed to his decrees, Kishore was too tough to bow down.

VC Shukla sent his emissaries to Kishore Kumar’s residence to ‘persuade’ the singer to sing a propaganda song for Indira Gandhi. Kishore Da had refused to sing the 20 point plan of Congress. As a result, Kishore Kumar’s songs were banned on AIR. Information & Broadcasting Minister VC Shukla was offended enough to announce a ban on Kishore Kumar’s voice on All India Radio.

You see, he was not only a great singer but a patriotic person too. Above all, he was Kishore Da who, in himself, is a compliment.