33 years ago today, India's greatest all-rounder in showbiz, Kishore Kumar died at a very young age of 58. Remembering him today because last week, rummaging through my old note book from 1987, came across two pages of notes recording my impressions of him in Guwahati
It was June or July 1987. He was visiting Guwahati for a concert. Wife Leena Chandawarkar, their son Sumeet were also there with the star. As a reporter with The Sentinel, I used to get opportunities to meet visiting celebrities. I was assigned to cover Kishore Kumar's programme
It was a big fan moment for me, having relished all his movies while in college in Pune. Meeting him in person was as fun-filled as his numerous movies. He was cracking jokes, pulling people's leg, breaking into a song at a small gathering at his host's house. I was tongue tied
To my eternal regret, I neither have his photograph nor mine with him. But you don't need photos to remember and enjoy Kishore Kumar. For me--indeed for our entire family--he remains a perpetual entertainer. We watch Half Ticket, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Padosan, and more on a loop
My favourite is Half Ticket. His chemistry with the ethereal Madhubala, his zany and crazy antics, his yelp, 'chachaa' every time he runs into Pran and all the songs in the film makes it a complete entertainer. Chalti Naam Gaadi comes a close second, again for the same reasons
He was funny yet some of the most memorable sad songs have also been sung by Kishore Kumar. Dukhi man mere, Koi humdum na raha, Aa chal ke tujhe mein leke chaloon, Geet gata hoon mein, mein shayar badnam come randomly to mind. Difficult to believe he wasn't a trained singer
Film industry of course has its own set of rules. Despite being such a versatile actor-singer-lyricist, music composer, director, writer, Kishore Kumar also witnessed difficult days, his biographers tell us. On one occasion, he even had to accept Rafi has his playback. Surprised?
Watch this song in Shararat and you will know what I mean. Rafi gave him playback even as Kishore sang this breezy song in the same film himself. Clearly, the producer-director of Shararat didn't trust Kishore with a sad song!
In these depressing and difficult times, there is one sure shot antidote for those who like Hindi films and music: the whole repertoire of the one and only Kishore Kumar. He went too early, like Mukesh and Rafi, but Kishore Kumar remains the complete entertainer for me even today
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