Born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, better known as Kishor Kumar to all of us, this man never ceases to entertain; not even after 22 years of his sad demise. If there were one man whom I'd have died to meet and listen LIVE, it would have been Kishor Kumar! ("Rohan, tu flesh 'n blood madhe nahi pahilas re Kishor Da la", is Baba's way of making me feel unfortunate)
Creative and versatile people have always held a high place in my heart and Kishore Kumar rightly sits at the top there. Singing, composing, acting, writing, entertaining... this man could do all! "Sab kuch Kishor Kumar", people lovingly called him.
If I can rely on my memory, my first dekko into Kishor Kumar was when Baba and one of my cousins were busy listening some of his songs (in a loop) for hours together - the most vividly I remember being Rhim Jhim Gire Saawan (Manzil) and Om Shanti Om (Karz) :-) The T-series HF60 cassette, having the best of Kishor Kumar songs, was till-death-do-us-apart kind of thing for Baba... and still is!!! It's as if the tunes from that cassette are more melodious than from a .mp3 of the same song, Kishor da's enchantment or Baba's devotion towards him, call it whatever you want.
His versatility, if need be, can be justified with numerous examples - if he could indulge in a 'vocal-battle' with Manna De and Mehmood in Ek Chatur Naar (Padosan), he also could mesmerise us with songs like Aanewala Pal (Golmaal). If he could masterfully yodel in his own unique style in Chala Jaata Hoon Main (Mere Jeevan Saathi), he could also render something soulful like Kuch To Log Kahenge (Amar Prem). Then if he was at his playful-best in Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si (Chalti Ka Naam Gadi), he could croon the ultra-sensual Roop Tera Mastana (Aradhana) with equal aplomb! And if that wasn't enough, he could do an Ashwini Ye Na (Gammat Jammat) which eventually turns up as one of the best Marathi songs!
All the above evident description is sufficient enough to know what lead me to being a life-long fan of this minstrel Czar and how much I'm missing him on this day: his birthday. Long live Kishor Da!
O Saathi Re...Tere Bina Bhi Kya Jeena
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| Humein tumse pyaar kitna yeh hum nahin jaante, magar jee nahi sakte tumhare bina |
A Salute to his accomplished life!
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