Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar was born on August 4, 1929 in Khandwa (now Madhya Pradesh ) into a family of Bengali origin. His parents were lawyer Kunjalal Ganguli ( Beng. কুঞ্জলাল গাঙ্গুলি ) and his wife Gauri Devi ( Beng. গৌরী দেবী ) ^[7] . Kishor was the youngest of four children in the family, he had two brothers Ashok Kumar and Anup Kumar who also became Bollywood actors, and Sita Devi's sister (she married producer Shashadhar Mukherjee, the grandmother of actress Kajol ).

Kishore studied first at Pandit Makhanlal Chaturvedi Prathamik Vidyalaya, and then at New High School ^[8] . Then he entered Indore Christian College, where his brothers had previously studied ^{[8] [9]} . Kishor Kumar, unlike other singers of his time, did not have a classical musical education ^[10] . At the beginning of his career, he imitated his idol K.L. Saigal ^[11] but later developed his own style. His calling card was a yodel , which he used in many of his songs ^[2] .

Kishore Kumar dreamed of becoming a singer since childhood, and to fulfill his dream, he came to Bombay at the age of 18 ^[2] and first got a job in the Sarasvati Devi choir at the Bombai Talkies film studio whose star was his older brother Ashok Kumar ^[12] . He himself had no desire to become an actor, but yielded to Ashok's desire to make him a new Bollywood hero ^{[2] [13]} . Kishor made his debut in the film of his brother Shikari (1946). The main role he first played in the film Vijaya (1948), paired with actress Ratamala. His first films failed at the box office, after which he switched to a comic style of play, different from the style of traditional romantic and tragic actors ^[2] . This brought him popularity, since most of the films of that time were comedies. One of his first hits was the film Ladki (1953), where he played in tandem with Vijayantimala ^[14] .

Kishore Kumar performed his first solo Marne ki Duayen Kyon Mangu for Deva Ananda in the film Ziddi (1948), in which he also played a small role as a gardener ^[3] . The film was a success, and Kishor remained the voice of Virgo Anand until 1957, after which he became too busy in his own films ^[15] . The success of Ziddi brought him new job offers as a voiceover. With the film Pyar (1950), the only one where Kishor sang for Raj Kapoor ^[16] , his collaboration with composer S.D. Burman , which lasted until the death of the latter in 1975. Kishor performed 112 songs to his music ^[11] .

In 1954, he acted as an actor and singer in the "Service" directed by Bimal Roy . Composer of the film Salil Chaudhary , learning that Kishore did not have a musical education, at first he refused to entrust him with the performance of songs and wanted to invite singer Hemant Kumar for this purpose. But Kishor managed to convince Chaudhary to listen to his singing, after which he changed his mind ^[17] .

Continuing his acting career, Kishore played with leading actresses of his time, including Mina Kumari and Madhubala . Together with the latter, he appeared in the film “The One Who Drives the Machine” ( Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi ), where both of his brothers also played. The idea of ​​the film came to Kishore when he drove to Bombay by his father's car to visit Ashok. He himself did all the work of the producer, but in the credits he indicated the name of his secretary Anup Sharm ^[9] . He did not hope for success, but the film became the second largest box office in 1958 ^[18] . Officially as a film producer, Kishore performed in a trilogy, including paintings by Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964), Door Ka Rahi (1971) and Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin (1980). The first of them was a great success and was withdrawn from rental only after 24 weeks, the second lasted 15 weeks in cinemas, and the third failed miserably ^[3] . In addition to producing for his films, Kishore was involved in directing, starring, writing music and singing songs. As a composer, he first tried himself in the film Jhumroo (1961). But the first experience of writing music brought him accusations of plagiarism, as the song Koi Humdam Na Raha allegedly written for the film was first heard in the debut film of his brother Jeevan Naiya (1936) ^[19] .

In the 1960s, after several roles in failed films, Kishore focused on off-screen performance. He returned to cooperation with Dev Anand, in particular, performing songs for him in the films "Holy" (1965) and The Thief of Values ​​(1967). He also recorded the song "Ami Chinigochini Tomarey Ogo Bideshini" to the verses of Rabindranath Tagore for the film " Charulata " (1964) by Satyajit Raya ^{[1] [20]} . But the greatest success was brought to him by the film “ Devotion ” directed by Shakti Samantha where he sang for Rajesh Khanna ^{[11] [21]} . Their joint work was considered so successful that in the following years Kishore became the “voice” of Rajesh ^[17] . In “Devotion”, he performed three songs: “Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera” together with Lata Mangeshkar , “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani” and “Roop Tera Mastana”, which brought him the first Filmfare Award for best male voice-over vocals . Subsequently, he received seven more prizes for performing solos and duets in the films Amanush (1975), The Mafia Leader (1978), and Little Betrayal (1980), “A Loyal Servant” (1982), “If You Are Not With Me” (1983), “The Drunkard” (1984) and The Sea of ​​Love (1985). Of the six compositions that he performed in the film “The Drunkard”, both individually and together with Asha Bhosle , four were nominated for Filmfare.

May 4, 1976, after he refused to speak at a rally in support of the party, the Indian National Congress , Minister of Information and Broadcasting V.Ch. Shukla imposed a ban on his songs in state-owned media, including the All-India Radio and Doordarshan television channel ^{[11] [13] [22]} .

Kishore made his last recording “Guru guru ho jaa shuru” for the film “Voice of Time”, released in 1988, the day before his death ^[23] . His songs continued to be used as soundtracks for another 13 years after his death ^[17] . Many of his hits remain popular and in demand today, for example, the composition “Sar Se Sarke”, performed by a duet with Lata Mangeshkar for the film “Love Connection” (1981), was used in the film " Spices and Passions " in 2014.

During his career, Kishore Kumar starred in 102 films, 4 of them were in Bengali , the rest in Hindi ^{[20] [24] [25]} . He wrote the scripts and directed 14 films as a producer (however, six of them were not completed), and also directed 12 films, of which four were abandoned at different stages ^[24] . Kishore himself wrote music for films of his own production, adding 24 different musical compositions. In total, he recorded 2905 songs for films and albums, including 2661 in Hindi and 221 in Bengali ^{[24] [25] [26]} . His songs are featured in approximately 574 Bollywood films for the roles of artists such as Dev Anand , Dilip Kumar , Rajesh Khanna , Amitabh Bachchan , Dharmendra , Jitendra , Sanjeev Kumar , Vinod Khanna , Pran , Shashi Kapoor , Rishi Kapoor , Randhirol Kapoor , Randhirol Kapoor , Sanjay Dutt , Rakesh Roshan , Anil Kapoor , Chunky Pandey , Kumar Gaurav , Jackie Schroff , Govinda , Mithun Chakraborti , etc.

Kishor sang songs to the music of such composers as S. D. Burman , his son R. D. Burman , Khayyam , Rajesh Roshan , Bappi Lahiri , tandems of composers Kalyanji and Ananji , Laxmikant and Pyarelal , Shankar and Dzhaykishan etc. Here is just an incomplete list of songs performed by the singer:

Kishore Kumar was married four times.

In 1951, at the age of 22, he married a 17-year-old Bengali actress and singer Ruma Ghosh , a niece to director Satyajit Rai ^{[28] [29] [30]} . The following year they had a son, Amit Kumar who subsequently followed in the footsteps of his father. The couple divorced in 1958, as Ruma wanted to pursue a career ^[30] .

In 1960, Kishore married a second time to the famous actress Madhubal , who was his partner in the films Dhake Ki Malmal (1956) and “The One Who Drives the Machine” (1958). Back in 1954, she was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect ^{[31] [32]} , and doctors from London, whom she contacted after the wedding, measured her only two years of life ^[33] . Since the couple belonged to different religions (Kishore was a Hindu , and Madhubala was a Muslim ), a civil marriage was arranged. Kishore's parents did not want to accept a daughter-in-law who professed Islam ^[29] . Due to the tense situation in her husband's house, Madhubal returned to her bungalow in Bandra in a month later (Bombay) ^{[29] [34]} . Kishore visited her once every two months ^{[31] [33]} . Their marriage ended in the death of Madhubala on February 23, 1969 .

Kishor's third wife is actress Yogita Bali , with whom he worked in several films (Yogita as an actress, Kishor as an off-performer), including “Looking for You” (1971), “I Come from Benares” (1973) and “Beloved” (1976). Bali was almost twice his junior ^[29] . They got married in 1976. Yogita left her husband on August 4, 1978 for the actor Mithun Chakraborti ^[13] , after which Kumar stopped performing songs in films for him ^[35] .

The actress Lina Chandavarkar became his fourth wife . They first met on the set of the film Man ka Meet (1969) ^[36] . In 1976, Lina lost her first husband, and then became depressed ^[37] . Kishore offered her a role in his film Pyar Ajnabi Hai (1979), and then a hand and a heart. Her parents were against this marriage, and then Kishore came to their house and sang songs on their porch until they gave consent ^{[30] [36] [37]} . The wedding took place in 1980, Lina was 21 years younger than her husband and only two years older than his son Amit ^[29] . In 1982, Sumit Kumar ^[36] , who also has experience of off-screen performance ^{[38], was} born from this marriage.

Kishore Kumar died on October 13, 1987 at the age of 58 as a result of an extensive heart attack , leaving Lina a second time as a widow at the age of 37. Now she lives with her son Sumit, stepson Amit, his wife, daughter and mother ^{[37] [39]} .

Filmfare Award

Filmfare Award for Best Male Voice-over

Filmfare Award Nominations

Filmfare Award for Best Male Voice-over

Others

Премия Бенгальской Ассоциации журналистов

• 1971 — фильм «Преданность» ^[40]
• 1972 — фильм «Жест» ^[41]
• 1973 — фильм « Брат и сестра » ^[42]
• 1975 — фильм «Чистый лист бумаги» ^[43]

• Derek Bose. Kishore Kumar: Method in Madness . — New Delhi: Rupa & Co, 2004. — 128 p. — ISBN 978-81-29126-58-0 .

• Dinesh Raheja. Kishore Kumar: The Master's Voice (англ.) . Rediff.com.
• Биография Кишора Кумара // Chandrakantha.com
• Фильмография Кишора Кумара // Yoodleeyoo.com