Kishore Kumar – the master entertainer of bollywood.
By: Souvik Chatterji.
Kishore Kumar can be considered as one of the immortal entertainers of bollywood who had remained alive in the minds of his numerous admirers across the world. Different TV Channels these days conduct programs on Kishore Kumar and nurture new talents who exhibit singing styles similar to that of Kishore Kumar. His contribution to Indian cinema range from his acting skills to dancing capabilities, singing style to production, direction, etc.
In the mid-50s Kishore Kumar was mainly associated with the Navketan Banner where he provided playback in major films of Dev Anand and his songs like “jeevan ke safar me rahi”, “dukhi man”, etc., which were big hits. His own performance in films like Chalti ka naam gaari, Jhumru, Half Ticket, etc., were very significant. In Chati Ka Naam Gaari, where he acted along with his brothers Ashok Kumar and Anup Kumar, the story showed the life of a car mechanic who had his own garage and unearthed the unlawful deeds of KN Singh in the film. The different sequences in the film were dealt with comedy, including the scene where he wins a car race with his defective car, and at every part of the film Kishore Kumar improvised with his acting skills. His songs with Asha Bhosle including “haal kaisa hai janab ka” was very successful. Half Ticket showed the character of a grown up person whose mind was not matured to that extent. Kishore Kumar almost made the viewers jump out of their seats when his uncle played by Pran, had forcibly put him in mental asylum or when dogs chased him within the film and when he rode on top of a bulldozer and kicked a ball which entered the goal in football stadium in Kolkata. Kishore Kumar also suited himself with the westernised composition of Salil Chowdhury in songs like “aankho me hi tum hi tum ho”.
Kishore Kumar showed his immense comedy skills in other films like Dilli Ka Thag, Mr. X in Bombay, Padosan, and Bengali films like “lukochuri”, “dushtu projapoti”, etc. In Padosan, he performed the role of an actor in nautankis and trained Sunil Dutt to sing songs and sung them in his place to impress the next door neighbour played by Saira Banu. H faced a music competition against Manna Dey in “ek chatur nar” where his non-classical improvisations bewildered the classical notion of Manna Dey. In the 70s , Kishore Kumar concentrated on singing and by the 80s he became the most popular singer of bollywood.
He could soften his voice for the playback of Rajesh Khanna and deepen his bass for the playback of Amitabh Bacchan and it appeared to the viewers that it was the actor who was singing. His composition for his own film Door Gagan ki chaon me, in songs like “bus pyar hi pyar fale” shows his skills in the other fields.
Besides he had provided a number of songs in sombre mood, which had touched the souls of many listeners like “o sham kuch ajeeb thi”, “ teri duniya se”, “ zindagi ka safar”, “pal pal dilke paas”, “hum bewafa hargis na the”, “ mera jeevan kora kagaz”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa”, “sagar kinare,”, etc. Although lack of classical training raises questions on the singing capacity of Kishore Kumar, his co-singers like Asha Bhosle had neutralised the argument by saying that he could imitate different persons, and his capability of modifying his voice to suit the sequence of the films had made him immortal in playback singing history. Just like the way different singers like Shabbir Kumar, Anwar, Mohammad Aziz were tried when Mohammad Rafi died in 1980, as composers could not understand how to replace to Rafi, similarly, Kumar Shanu, Abhijit, Babul Supriyo all made major contribution when Kishore Kumar died in late 80s, because he provided playback for all the leading actors at that time. Till today huge number of singers of the modern generation imitate Kishore Kumar and he is alive in his numerous songs and performances. It is a big debate whether Kishore Kumar was a greater actor or a greater singer. In fact all his acting skills were embedded in his singing and that is why he could sing either like a drunkard, or like a happy person, or show the different emotions of different actors, etc. His films and songs should be preserved to show that playback singing requires the understanding of the emotions of the actors and if the singer is an actor like Kishore Kumar, then songs become realistic, melodious and lively.
By: Souvik Chatterji.
Kishore Kumar can be considered as one of the immortal entertainers of bollywood who had remained alive in the minds of his numerous admirers across the world. Different TV Channels these days conduct programs on Kishore Kumar and nurture new talents who exhibit singing styles similar to that of Kishore Kumar. His contribution to Indian cinema range from his acting skills to dancing capabilities, singing style to production, direction, etc.
In the mid-50s Kishore Kumar was mainly associated with the Navketan Banner where he provided playback in major films of Dev Anand and his songs like “jeevan ke safar me rahi”, “dukhi man”, etc., which were big hits. His own performance in films like Chalti ka naam gaari, Jhumru, Half Ticket, etc., were very significant. In Chati Ka Naam Gaari, where he acted along with his brothers Ashok Kumar and Anup Kumar, the story showed the life of a car mechanic who had his own garage and unearthed the unlawful deeds of KN Singh in the film. The different sequences in the film were dealt with comedy, including the scene where he wins a car race with his defective car, and at every part of the film Kishore Kumar improvised with his acting skills. His songs with Asha Bhosle including “haal kaisa hai janab ka” was very successful. Half Ticket showed the character of a grown up person whose mind was not matured to that extent. Kishore Kumar almost made the viewers jump out of their seats when his uncle played by Pran, had forcibly put him in mental asylum or when dogs chased him within the film and when he rode on top of a bulldozer and kicked a ball which entered the goal in football stadium in Kolkata. Kishore Kumar also suited himself with the westernised composition of Salil Chowdhury in songs like “aankho me hi tum hi tum ho”.
Kishore Kumar showed his immense comedy skills in other films like Dilli Ka Thag, Mr. X in Bombay, Padosan, and Bengali films like “lukochuri”, “dushtu projapoti”, etc. In Padosan, he performed the role of an actor in nautankis and trained Sunil Dutt to sing songs and sung them in his place to impress the next door neighbour played by Saira Banu. H faced a music competition against Manna Dey in “ek chatur nar” where his non-classical improvisations bewildered the classical notion of Manna Dey. In the 70s , Kishore Kumar concentrated on singing and by the 80s he became the most popular singer of bollywood.
He could soften his voice for the playback of Rajesh Khanna and deepen his bass for the playback of Amitabh Bacchan and it appeared to the viewers that it was the actor who was singing. His composition for his own film Door Gagan ki chaon me, in songs like “bus pyar hi pyar fale” shows his skills in the other fields.
Besides he had provided a number of songs in sombre mood, which had touched the souls of many listeners like “o sham kuch ajeeb thi”, “ teri duniya se”, “ zindagi ka safar”, “pal pal dilke paas”, “hum bewafa hargis na the”, “ mera jeevan kora kagaz”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa”, “sagar kinare,”, etc. Although lack of classical training raises questions on the singing capacity of Kishore Kumar, his co-singers like Asha Bhosle had neutralised the argument by saying that he could imitate different persons, and his capability of modifying his voice to suit the sequence of the films had made him immortal in playback singing history. Just like the way different singers like Shabbir Kumar, Anwar, Mohammad Aziz were tried when Mohammad Rafi died in 1980, as composers could not understand how to replace to Rafi, similarly, Kumar Shanu, Abhijit, Babul Supriyo all made major contribution when Kishore Kumar died in late 80s, because he provided playback for all the leading actors at that time. Till today huge number of singers of the modern generation imitate Kishore Kumar and he is alive in his numerous songs and performances. It is a big debate whether Kishore Kumar was a greater actor or a greater singer. In fact all his acting skills were embedded in his singing and that is why he could sing either like a drunkard, or like a happy person, or show the different emotions of different actors, etc. His films and songs should be preserved to show that playback singing requires the understanding of the emotions of the actors and if the singer is an actor like Kishore Kumar, then songs become realistic, melodious and lively.
