It’s difficult to summarise or encapsulate Kishore Kumar’s life in a few paragraphs or even a few pages for that would limit our understanding of the enigma that he was. He was such a multi-faceted personality that to describe him in a certain manner would bracket him, which would be unfair to his persona.
And it’s been 35 years since the world lost one of its most talented singers.
Primarily a singer, Kishore Da was also an actor. Despite being a reluctant actor, he was cast in nearly 100 movies in his lifetime. Only a few of them like Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Jhumroo (1961) and Half Ticket (1962) with Madhubala went on to become hits. Then, of course, he did the role of a lifetime in Padosan (1968). It is as watchable today as it was then with its ‘Bindoo’ song playing across India even now.
The legendary playback singer was a versatile genius. From singing to acting, Kishore Da did everything with conviction. But his personal life was an emotional rollercoaster ride which saw many heartbreaks. Kishore Kumar married Ruma Guha Thakurta, Satyajit Ray’s niece in 1950. However, the marriage did not work and they decided to separate in 1958. He got married to Madhubala in 1960 but she had a hole in the heart and died early, in 1969. Kishore Da then married Yogita Bali, niece of Shammi Kapoor’s first wife, Geeta Bali in 1976 but according to reports, she fell in love with Mithun Chakraborty, which led to her divorce with Kishore Da. He was the happiest with his last wife Leena Chandravarkar, whom he married in 1980. The happiness didn’t last long as Kishore Kumar passed away in 1987.
Kishore Kumar sang a total of 2678 Hindi songs, including both released and unreleased ones and won eight Filmfare awards for being the best playback singer. He sang the maximum songs, 687, with Asha Bhonsle, 343 with Lata Mangeshkar and 72 Mohammad Rafi.
