FLAMBOYANT KISHORE KUMAR
Kishore Kumar's ardent desire in his last days was to return to his native Khandwa, but that was not to be. His sudden death took even him and many others by surprise. R.D.Burman was justify bereft when Kishoreda passed away suddenly. 'When Kishore was alive, it was so easy. Like Rafi and Mukesh he had a style of his own. In a way he was one up on the others because he could pick a tune and make it completely his own, to such an extent that you'd feel no one but he could ever sing it. Kishore Kumar's demise justify a void that imitators have failed to fill. Composers were justify holding tunes that they had composed only for Kishore and only Kishore could have sung. The R.D. Burman follower, composer Bappi Lahiri, who looked upon Kishore Kumar, as his mentor says, 'I wouldn't be here but for him. From 'Chalte Chalte' to my last song, he sang ninety percent of my compositions. His death is a great personal loss to me, but a greater professional loss. Now, I'll have to work harder to put in the fifty percent which he used to add'. And Bappi Lahiri must really know, for it was for him that Kishore Kumar recorded his last song on October 12, 1987, a day before he died.
Profile of Kishore Kumar :
Kishore Kumar Ganguly
Birth: Khandwa, MP, 4th august 1929
Death: Mumbai, Maharashtra ; 13 October 1987, heart attack
Marriage: To Ruma Guha Thakur, Madhu Bala, Geeta Bali, Leena Chandrawarkar
Brother of Anoop Kumar and Ashok Kumar ; Sons – Amit Kumar and Sumeet
Actor, Director, Playback Singer, Composer
Play back singer for more than 200 movies. Directed 8 movies. Acted in more than 50 movies.
First movie acted in ‘Do Ghadi ki Mauj (1935); First song in movie: Shikari (1946)’.
Last movie acted ‘Koun jeeta Koun hara (1988), last song in movie: Maalamaal (1988).
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