Why not more...???

Oil and water don’t mix together- but that does not lessen the quality of either of them. It is just the simple density chemistry which bars these two elements getting mixed up with one another. There have been quite a few music directors in Hindi film music, who preferred to stay away from certain singers due to various reasons. When it comes to artistic difference, it makes sense as to why Naushad avoided Kishore Kumar and Geeta Dutt; Shankar Jaikishen avoided Hemant Kumar and Talat Mehmood; S D Burman avoided Mahendra Kapoor or for that matter Salil Chwodhury avoided Shamshad Begum.

However, sometimes it becomes difficult to understand as to why some combos, in spite of creating some supreme music together whenever they combined and sharing musical similarity, did not come together too often. Reasons can be musical or non musical, let us take a look into some highly “productive” but “infrequent” combos.

Ek hi mara par solid mara...

There have been many albums which were dominated by a single artist. Talk of Ijazat where none but Asha Bhosle was the only singer with a string of solos to her credit. You will also find albums like Teesri Manzil where you will find Mohd Rafi in each and every song, some solos and some duets with Asha Bhosle. There are some albums, where in spite of being various artists, one artist emerged out as the dominant voice- Lata Mangeshkar in Madhumati, Manna De in Basant Bahar, Mukesh in Anand or Kishore Kumar in Safar are just some of the examples.

However, there have been certain instances where a singer had only one song in a whole album but that song emerged out to be the winner out of all the other songs in that album. In Hindi, we term this as “Ek maara par solid maara”. Can you think of such instances in Hindi film music? Let me help you a bit in your thinking process:

Emperors of Playback- Kishore and Rafi Duets

The first time Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar shared the microphone together was in 1949, both in their twenties and yet to achieve superstardom. The song was by and large a duet of Rafi and S D Batish-“Duniya mein ameeron ko aaraam nahi milta”, where Kishore gave some fillers with yodelling and gabbles.

The first proper duet these two legends sang together was in 1953- two duets in the movie Mallkin, music directed by Roshan Lal Nagrath or Roshan. Both fun filled duets- “Kahin se oonchi kahin se neechi” and “ Dhoti aur patloon mein” are not remembered much these days. Composition wise, there is nothing great in them, just occasional peppy numbers.

Throughout the fifties, Kishore and Rafi came together for male duets in quite a few movies like Mastana(1954, Madan Mohan), Paisa Hi Paisa(1956, Anil Biswas), Fifty Fifty(1956, Madan Mohan), Bhagam Bhag(1956, O P Nayyar), Naya Andaz(1956, O P Nayyar), however barring those of Naya Andaz, the rest all can safely be forgotten. It is important to note that, post-Baiju Bawara(1952), as Rafi grew stronger and stronger as a playback singer throughout the fifties, Kishore gained ground more in acting with his singing taking a clear backseat. So, in most of the cases, the duets were either picturized on Kishore for funny songs (obviously) or on some other comic actors to whom Kishore gave playback.

Sixties belonged to Rafi. Mere figures cannot explain the mammoth like impact he had on the industry. In the sixties, in Hindi playback singing, 1 to 10 were Mohammed Rafi and it remains an achievement of its own! Even if some competitions were there for the top spot in the fifties with Talat and Mukesh, Rafi ensured there was none in the sixties. With rock and roll and rhythm getting more importance, Rafi proved to be the only true blue versatile singer out of the lot, and the rest remained in their niche as specialists. Hemant Kumar slowly moved out of Hindi music fraternity, Talat was into hibernation by mid-60s and Mukesh was called for special sad numbers only. Mahendra Kapoor, even though his lifetime collection would consist of mainly 60s songs, in terms of impact, he was nowhere close. And Kishore Kumar was virtually jobless by mid-60s. His movies were not doing well, his problem with income tax and Madhubala shattered him further and he had far too distanced himself from playback singing by then.

Sixties had hardly any significant Rafi-Kishore duet to talk of. They came together in some sporadic instances like Krorepati (Shankar Jaikishen, 1961) and Akalmand(1966, O P Nayyar)- both Kishore Kumar starrers.

With the advent of seventies, Kishore Kumar as a playback singer grew large, very large.  And this marked the decade where Kishore and Rafi sang significantly remarkable male duets.

My all time favourite remains “Yaadon ki baarat” title song-1973. While Kishore sang in his inimitable full open throated singing style, Rafi gave his signature soft touch and made this duet very memorable indeed.

Both Kishore and Rafi had been the mainstay of the compositions of legendary Sachin Dev Burman. But, somehow, SD could never make a Kishore-Rafi duet before, until in 1975- in one of his last released movies, Chupke Chupke. Kishore was all over the duet and Rafi aptly supported him for the sweet “Saregama masarega” duet.

Composer duo Laxmikant Pyarelal needs a special mention here. Here was a duo who had no clear cut preference of one over the other, unlike many other MDs in the 70s, and equally distributed their creations to both of them throughout. They kept on bringing these two stalwarts together throughout the 70s, with memorable duets in Humjoli(1970), Parvarish(1977), Ram Balram(1980) and Deedar-e-yaar(1982). My personal favourite remains “Mere dildaar ka baankpan” from Deedar E Yaar, penned by the great Sahir Ludhianvi.

Shankar Jaikishen also recorded some popular Kishore-Rafi duets in Ek Naari Ek Brahmachari(1971), Jungle mein mangal(1972) and Love in Bombay(1975).

During the late 70s, double hero concept became very popular, and two different but prominent voices were required for two heroes, ahem, angry young men! Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi recorded maximum duets in that period of 1977-1980. Rajesh Roshan recorded as many as 4 K-R duets in a single movie called “Aap ke Deewane”(1980). One of my favourites “Tum ko khush dekhkar” belongs to that movie.

Following the path of a Genius- Exploring Kishore Kumar's Unfading Popularity

In the highly competitive arena of Hindi film music, to leave a mark of your own itself is such a huge task, leave apart becoming the Numero Uno. And to maintain the top position for years together is even tougher. With the industry studded with innumerable musical talents in the Golden Era of Film Music- from 50s to 70s- there had been a privileged few who, with the Good God’s Grace, were distinctly genius.  

Who can be called a Genius? Can we safely define him as a person who can perform a task to the perfection without ever learning the general and widely acknowledged process of performance and developing a new process of his own! So, if sending a cricket ball outside the boundary with a Willow Bat is a task, Sunil Gavaskar learnt the process of accomplishing that task traditionally by studying and practising, while Viv Richards developed a process of his own! And the path followed by the Genius is also very difficult to follow by others- resulting in limited number of genius and more number of traditional students, as a law of nature. Not that Sunny is lesser than Viv by any circumstances; we can still safely give the crown of a “Master” to the former and the crown of a “Genius” to the latter.

Never follow the path of a non-conformist- warn the traditionalists! You might mess it all up and end up at nowhere. And people to be on the safer side, follow that instruction also.

So, when Pandit Ajay Chakraborty of the Patiala gharana mentions in an interview that he was highly influenced by the singing style of Kishore Kumar and Manna De, you can't help getting stunned! As the latter can be safely called the Sunil Gavaskar or Rahul Dravid of Hindi playback singing, the former has always been a Viv Richards or Virendra Sehwag- people awed at him in appreciation sometimes and criticizing him outright some other times.

But the fact is what Ajay Chakraborty depicts indirectly- Kishore Kumar and his style of singing is present generation’s obsession. What do they follow about Kishore- a man who sang more than 3000 songs in a career of 40 years without having any formal musical training? What aspect of this amateur singer’s singing could have attracted people like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ajay Chakraborty, Prince Rama Verma to Satyajit Ray, Lata Mangeshkar to an entire generation of young and aspiring singers? Even a trained Rabindrasangeet singer Suchitra Mitra, who had taken training under the Great Poet himself, sent a letter full of praises to this maverick singer after listening to his album of Rabindrasangeets?

National Award winning director Sandip Ray made a comprehensive documentory on Kishore Kumar

                            

Ek raasta hai zindagi... Tribute to Yash Chopra-Sahir Ludhianvi

I should start writing this obituary very honestly here- I have never been a great fan of Yash Chopra school of movie making. Not that I am against it or I do not watch them, in fact I have watched all his films except Faasle and Nakhuda, but my take home has been minimal. However, some of his works have spellbound me alright; Deewar, Doosra Aadmi and Silsila were all top class works and enlightened me.

Gulzar and Kishore Kumar- Deep Poetry and Deep Voice

* The article was already published on www.yoodleeyoo.com on 04.08.2010. I am reproducing it here with some modifications*

Jhuki huyi nigaah mein kahi mera khayal tha….”
Those “Khayals” or “thoughts” of Gulzar sahab had always been depicted with a serene voice on screen by a person called Kishore Kumar. The impact of Kishore Kumar and Gulzar on the movies are everlasting and unforgettable. The deep voice of Kishore Kumar coupled with the words of Gulzar has always been special. Be it the music of Rahul Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Hemant Kumar, Khayyam or Rajesh Roshan- the resultant output has been mesmerizing.
Their association can be traced back to 1968, with Bimal Roy’s “Do Dooni Char”. Gulzar sahab’s thoughtful lyrics of “Hawaon pe likh do hawaon ke naam, hum anjaane pardesiyon ka salaam” coupled with Hemant Kumar’s melodious tune and an open throated soulful Kishore Kumar’s voice leaves a memorable song dedicated to the nature. The breezy, wild lap of Mother Nature was never been depicted in such a detailed way- “Yahan subah se khela karti hai shaam…”- how true! Makes you travel through a village road, twisted and turned, to take you to the bank of a river with green grass and huge shadows of trees.
Sit alone on a boat at the dusk, and the first song which you would love to grasp on is “Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi, yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai, who kal bhi paas paas thi who aaj bhi kareeb hai”… Feels like taking an aloof ride on a boat on a flowing river and thinking and getting immersed in the beauty of the twilight with bygone thoughts enveloping your mind. Who did a better job?,Gulzar with his pen, Hemant Kumar with his tune or Kishore with his vocal?? I would say, all of them. A symmetry amongst those three makes this song from “Khamoshi”(1969) one of the most beautiful soulful songs in Hindi films.

Gulzar’s expression on life has mostly been indirect.. Be it grief, be it happiness, be it loneliness or be it appreciation to beauty, he has often been indirect in expression. But a direct expression by Gulzar could create history with “Koi hota jisko apna hum apna keh lete yaaron, paas nahi to door hi hota lekin koi mera apna”.. Compare this with other poetries on loneliness by this poet, you can feel there is that direct expression which makes this song plain and simple and everlasting. Gulzar had earlier worked with Salil Chowdhury for quite a few films, but this song of “Mere Apne” was special.. Special to many.. For Kishore, it was a ladder to prove his mastery of singing a 12 matra composition from the rhythmic master Salil Chowdhury… How wrong was Salil 17 years back on Kishore! Spellbound by the rendition and capability of Kishore, Salil lost no time to admit “he had underrated Kishore earlier”.. Gulzar’s direct lamentation on loneliness with words “Koi to gham apna tha, koi to saathi hota”, coupled with deep and heavy voice and sensational tune, this song is a landmark..
Rahul Dev Burman’s association with Kishore and Gulzar has always been special.. Take the tune of a vagabond -“Musafir hoon yaaron na ghar hai na theekana, mujhe chalta jaana hai, bas chalte jaana”.. Gulzar is never systematic.. His beauty lies in his thoughts breaking shackles of constraint.. His views had that “dhundlapan” or fogginess which no other poet could express with such confidence. Coupled with rhythmic tune of Rahul Dev Burman and the vocal of Kishore, this number of “Parichay”(1972) stands out in uniqueness.
And what about the directionless beauty in “O Majhi re apna kinara”? A boatman has his understanding of the river, where to anchor and where to sail.. The person does not. A contradiction in approach if the river is the life and the person is the boatman.. He expresses it openly “Koi Kinara jo kinare se mile woh apna kinara hai”… This indirect approach of Gulzar on direction or the lack of it, is what he is known for and what was expressed earlier. This song of “Khushboo”(1974) is again a gem. Amit Kumar once said that RD Burman had broken down into tears after listening the final output on Kishore’s voice in the recording room.. Was it only for Kishore’s voice? Or was it because it was coupled with a poetry which could make people think that in all our lives , however systematic we may be, there comes a junction , where we feel “apna kinara nadiya ki dhara hai”..
“Jaane kya sochkar nahi guzra, ek pal raat bhar nahi guzra…” renders that isolation of Gulzar poetry, which he used to come back from time to time… The pain of the hours of aloofness again sewn in melodious notes by Rahul Dev Burman and vocal by Kishore, makes us feel, has there ever been a better narrator of aloofness than Gulzar?? A gentleman said once “Gulzar can never be imagined in a group photograph, Gulzar cladded in white, bespectacled, sporting a pair of brown chappals, standing and smiling alone”.. Perhaps, he is right. Kinara(1976) had other gems of Gulzar and Pancham and along with others, this special gift from Kishore’s voice is the most memorable.
How can you express the aspirations and requirements of people belonging to the middle-class better than “Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai, zindagi fir bhi yahan khubsoorat hai”… ? Gulzar in simple words has just explained what the simplicity of middle-class is and what aspirations they have.. They dream but with constraint, they aspire but not detached from the ground… So when someone says “Main chhune zara aasmaan chali” , the other warns “Badal pe udna hoga…”. Khatta Meetha(1977). Composer:Rajesh Roshan.
Ghar (1978) is very speacial. I can’t pick any, between the nostalgic “Phir wohi raat hai” or romantic “Aap ki aankhon mein kuchh”.. Rahul Dev Burman again creates two masterpieces where Gulzar describes the beauty of a lady with “Aap se bhi khubsoorat aap ki andaaz hai” and then makes the man nostalgic with “Raat bhar khwab mein dekha karenge tumhe”…
The isolation depiction takes a new turn with “Hazaar rahein mud ke dekhi kahi se koi sada na aayi….” This time Kishore and Gulzar teams up with Khayyam- the ghazal master. Both isolated beings want to reunion again, but something, some ego or some hindrance is again creeping in their minds and they are unsure who should approach whom and finally says “Tumhe yeh zid thi ke hum bulaate, humein yeh umeed who pukaare../ Hai naam hothon pe ab bhi lekin, awaaz mein pad gayi dararein..” This indirect expression is a signature of Gulzar always.
The two songs with which one can further explore this wonderful journey of these two talented artists are:
1. Aanewala pal jaanewala hai..
2. Raahon pe rehte hai yaadon pe basar karte hai..
Both coming again from the tunes of Rahul Dev Burman, the first one makes you feel the importance of every passing moments in life and the other takes you to a ride of time where the person does not bother where the time is going, but only to bother how much road is traversed. Contradiction? But then, Gulzar is all about poetry which defies all norms and all shackles of tradition..

These are only a handful of songs which I have discussed.. I have left out many also, so a special mention to some gems:

1. Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota(a verse on beauty)
2. Chand churaake laya hoon( a peppy track with touch of fun)
3. Kabhi kabhi sapna lagta hai( a melancholic depiction of a strange relationship)
4. Sa re ke saare ga ma ko lekar( a breezy children song)
5. Aankhon mein humne aap ke sapne sajaye hai( a lovely interpretation of love and lust)
6. Ladkhadane do mujhe( A rare drunken solo of this combo)

Three unreleased gems, all composed by R D:

1. Main thak gaya hoon ( A masterpiece solo on a tired, lonely person)
2. Kaise dekhoon meri aankhon ke ( A romantic duet with Lata with tender poetry)
3. Phoolon ki zubaan khubsoorat ho gayi (A rhythmic duet with Asha)

And then, those three eternal duets of Aandhi to conclude with:
1. Tum aa gaye ho.
2. Is mod se jaate hai
3. Tere Bina zindagi se koi shikwa nahi

The last three songs of “Aandhi” need a special mention here, as it is not only Gulzar-Kishore, but Lata Mangeshkar beautifully teaming up, and Pancham indeed! While “Tum aa gaye ho..” is a simple rendition of love, “Tere bina zindagi se shikwa..” is perhaps the most sensitive duet from the golden age of music. Lata carries off the first two stanza with soft and soothing touch and Kishore enters late with the heavy impact rendering “Tum jo keh do to aaj ki raat chand doobega nahi”- making one of the most memorable late entries in the duets ever!!. A complex relation, broken long back but united temporarily knowing very well it  would break again, how desirous the man sounds in that line where he wants to stop the time so that the momentary accompanying does not get lost.
Just as I had started with the thoughts of Gulzar, I end with a nostalgic feeling and that tenderness in poetry and rendition, which makes Gulzar and Kishore so special..


Ek door se aati hai, paas aake palat ti hai..

Ek raah akeli si, rukti hai na chalti hai…


They move on but always it seems in their movements, the time has come to a standstill.

Those 20 years...The lean phase of singer Kishore Kumar

Marne ki duayein kyun mangu in 1948 to start with and Mere sapno ki rani in 1969 to superstardom; 21 years in between were mixed bag for Kishore Kumar. He saw success as an actor between 1955-1960, saw decline in all fields in the 60s majorly due to personal turmoil before he finally decided to make playback singing his career in the late 60s, and one film was good enough to take him where he should have reached much before.

But were those 20 years in between (1949-1969) so insignificant for the singer Kishore Kumar? Because, when I started revisiting Kishore around 10 years back, I discovered some of his best songs in that period. Kishore himself, when asked to choose his own Top 10 by Pritish Nandy, selected as many as 6 songs from that period. Really, you cant overlook them entirely, can you?

In those 21 years, singer Kishore did much more than doing part time playback for friend Dev Anand and full time playback for himself, as the hero, as often been believed. Revisiting those 21 years would show, he had done playback for many other actors and there was indeed a period, in the early 50s, when he was “Quite Regular” to playback singing. Interesting, isn’t it? Lets take a relook, year wise, as to see, except Dev Anand, who were the other significant actors who got Kishore’s voice as playback singer. Kindly note, this is not a database and many songs will not be covered as well, but we will try to see the significant songs only in terms of quality or popularity.

1949: Rimjhim had an absolutely brilliant Kishore Kumar solo “Jagmag jagmag karta nikla” composed by Khemchand Prakash and picturized on Kishore Sahu. No video is available of that song to anyone that I know. The movie had another song of Kishore, his first duet with Shamshad Begum- “ Mere Ghar aage hai”, assumingly picturized on Kishore Sahu only.

1950: S D Burman gave as many as 5 songs to Kishore to sing for Raj Kapoor in Pyar. That was the only instance when Kishore sang for Raj Kapoor on screen(later, he did sing in some movies where Raj Kapoor was there, like Aashiyana, Kal aaj aur Kal, Dharam Karam , but the songs were not for the showman). Neither S D Burman nor Kishore Kumar, later on, had too much to talk about in RK movies.  Also, there was a Bengali film “Samar” in the same year, where SD again gave Kishore an ensemble number with Geeta Dutt and Arun Kumar. I am not sure on whom the Kishore part was picturized, but that was without doubt a playback service. Also, in the same year, Hansraj Behl gave Kishore a song in Khiladi- “O phool chunnewali tu khud hi gulab hai”. Again, no video is available, but since Ashok Kumar was the hero in that movie, perhaps that was the first song Kishore playbacked for his elder brother.

1951:  Madan Mohan had debuted in 1950 as an independent music  director, and in his second film- “Ada”- he gave 2 songs to Kishore Kumar for playback service on Shekhar. But the winner that year was S D Burman composed “Qusoor aapka huzoor aapka” picturized on Karan Dewan from Bahar. S D Burman that year, gave Kishore three actors to playback for- Karan Dewan in Bahar, Premnath in Naujawan and Gope in Ek Nazar.  Kishore also sang his only male duet with Talat Mehmood that year- “Damri damri paisa paisa” composed by Chitragupta, again a playback assignment, in "Humari Shaan".

1952:  Making a niche for himself by that time, in 1952, Kishore got playback assignment from quite a few MDs- albeit mainly for comedy songs. Some examples were Madan Mohan’s “O madam ek se hum ho gaye” in Aashiyana (picturized on Agha) and Roshan’s “ Dil ho gaya senti flat” in Sheesham (picturized on Gope); S K Pal’s “Jiyo jiyo mere laal” in Maa(picturized on Bharat Bhushan, yes, “Tum bin jaaoon kaha” was decade and a half later) and “Baiyan chhodo balam” by Chic Chocolate in Rangili(picturized on Mumtaz Ali- Mehmood’s father). But the song of the year for Kishore was “Woh meri taraf yun chale aa rahe hai” composed by Husnlal Bhagatram and picturized on Ashok Kumar from the movie Kaafila. The song is an absolute stunner.  Other playback songs worth mentionable from the same year is “ Kaun hai aesa mehfil mein jo na tera deewana ho” composed by C Ramchandra in the movie “Sin sinaki babla boo”, supposedly picturized on Ranjan and "Yeh kaali ghata" composed by Bhola Shreshtha from Nazariya. Another song for Bhagwan  happened in Sindabad the Sailor under composer Chitragupta.Kishore also sang that year in Shrimatiji for the music director Jimmy- 3 comedy songs, again playback assignment.( Info Courtesy: Mr. Sanjay Sengupta- RCAB, Kolkata).

1953:  Many people won’t believe today, Kishore’s most productive association that year was with music director Roshan. Roshan used Kishore for 6 songs in three films in 1953, all playback assignments, namely Maalkin, Maashooqa and Aagosh. Roshan stopped working altogether with Kishore from 1954 onwards and did not live long enough to see the release of Aradhana, otherwise, some gems surely would have been made together by them. Roshan’s son Rajesh Roshan used Kishore to the maximum in the 70s when his father was gone.

Maashooqa song- a gem of a duet with Meena Kapoor- “Yeh sama hum tum jawan” was picturized on Agha. Maashooqa was a Mukesh-Suraiya starrer film.  Maalkin had as many as 4 songs of Kishore picturized on Sajjan.  Aagosh, the launching movie of Nutan as heroine, had a Kishore-Lata duet picturized on Agha again. .

Another mentionable playback assignment that year , although for Dev Anand, was Humsafar whose music was composed by Ali Akbar Khan. Alongwith Pandit Panna Lal Ghosh, Pandit Hrudaynath Mangeshkar and  Pandit Shiv Hari, this was another Kishore association with a classical maestro.

1954:  The most famous background song of those days, “Din hai suhana aaj pehli tarikh hai” was sung by Kishore for the composer Sudheer Phadke in “Pehli Taarikh”. Also, under S D Burman, Kishore sang for Jeevan in Angaarey- “Gori ke nainon mein nindiya bhare”.  . S D Burman gave another playback song to Kishore in “Chalis Baba Ek Chor”- “O meri guiyan goo dulha dulhaniya”, a Kishore-Lata duet. I am not sure on whom the song was picturized. Another mentionable playback song that year was “Ae bandi tum begum bano” from Parineeta(1954) composed by Arun Kumar. Madan Mohan used Kishore for Gope that year in "Mastana" in 2 songs.

1955: Actor Kishore Kumar catching up fast in the earlier year with Ilzaam, Miss Mala and Naukri, actor Kishore started getting busier and busier and the singer Kishore taking a backseat slowly. Kishore did give playback jobs that year like “Meethi narangi lana” in Raj Durbar for Chitragupta and three songs for composer Jaidev’s debut film “Joru Ka Bhai” for Balraj Sahani, but his acting was more in demand and slowly eating away more of his time.

Between 1956 to 1964, I can hardly remember any Kishore Kumar song other than him as the hero or Dev Anand. There was a unreleased movie in 1962- “Ramdoot Hanuman” by composer Dakshinamohan Tagore, where Kishore did sing a song. I assume that was a playback service. Also, in 1956, there was a Salil Chowdhury number “Araram tararum duniya ke kaise kaise gham”(which is again a super song and only Kishore could have pulled that off) on Anwar Hussain in Awaaz. Also, you can consider that famous song of Half Ticket for Pran. And in Bengali, the beautiful Rabindrasangeet on Soumitra Chatterjee in Satyajit Ray's "Charulata".

Kishore gave his first playback service to comedian Mehmood in 1965 with Johar Mehmood in Goa and Bhoot Bangla. Later in the 70s, Kishore successfully became the voice of Mehmood with Mastana(1970), Humjoli(1970), Albela(1971), Laakhon mein Ek(1971), Kunawara Baap(1974), Ujala hi Ujala(1974) and many more Mehmood flicks.  Before Aradhana happened in 1969, some other successful playback assignments by Kishore between 1966-1969 were- Abhilasha-1968(Sanjay Khan), Farishta-1968(Sudhir), Teen Bahuraniyan-1968(Rajendra Nath), Bhai Bahen-1969,  Aansoo ban gaye phool -1969(Dev Mukherjee), Pyar ka Mausam-1969(Bharat Bhushan), Khamoshi-1969(Rajesh Khanna), Rahagir-1969(Biswajeet), Sabarmati(Bangla)-1969(Uttam Kumar) and Suhaag Raat-1968, background singing.

And then of course, gradually building good association with S D Burman, R D Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal and Kalyanji Anandji, Kishore gave the ultimate punch on 29^th November, 1969 when Aradhana was released. All the 400 songs put together on one side in the last 21 years, Kishore Kumar became the busiest playback singer in the industry by 1971 and remained so till his death in 1987.

Chala jata hoon...

It does not matter if Rajesh Khanna was not seen on the screen or did not make any public appearances. Only the sheer thought of he being alive and breathing in the same world along with us, used to give us the requisite nostalgic hysteria. With the departure of Kaka, followed with the previous exits of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Joy Mukherjee-all just a year back- the last cord between the present generation and the 60s and 70s Indian Cinema is cut.

Yes, in his acting, he was melodramatic more than occasionally. And this progressively went on growing with his age. The charm of melodrama which Anand and Amar Prem gave us, and still give, became a parody by the time Wafaa (2008)- his last released movie- occurred.

But, still, Kaka was there. The first man to show us what mass hysteria means, was there. And now, with he gone, I don’t know, professionally how much present Indian cinema has lost, but the common people have lost Nostalgia forever. Here was a man, whenever coming in front of the public, who could take you to 40 years back in time instantly.

And as I have been listening to the FM Radio stations tirelessly playing the songs of late 60s and early 70s of Kaka, sung mainly by his “voice” Kishore Kumar, penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal, the mind goes wayward.

He had great looks. A Cinematic presence, which no one could or can replicate. The way he held the glass in Amar Prem (Chingari koi bhadke) or the way he nodded his head on an open jeep in Aradhana (Mere sapno ki rani) are history now. Who bothers what he delivered post-1975. It is more than sufficient to spend your lifetime with the two dozen great films Kaka delivered between Khamoshi (1969) to Daag (1973).

A lady charmer, Kaka epitomized romance on screen. With great couplings formed with Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore, Kaka could be light, playboy some times and intense and emotional some other time with equal ease. With Sharmila, he gave some intense and emotionally serious movies like Safar, Amar Prem, Aavishkar, Daag and Aradhana; while with Mumtaz he delivered juvenile and light hearted romance in Do Raaste, Dushman, Sacha Jhootha and Apna Desh. And there was also Anand, where he did not have any heroine, and gave a lifetime performance.

And Kaka got some of the best philosophical songs ever composed in Hindi Cinema. In spite of not being into the intellectual cinema like Guru Dutt, Kaka got mesmerizing philosophical songs picturized on him like Zindagi ka safar (Kishore Kumar, Safar), Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai(Kishore Kumar, Aap ki Kasam), Zindagi kaisi hai paheli(Manna De, Anand), Kuchh to log kahenge(Kishore Kumar,AmarPrem) and Diye jalte hai phool khilte hai(Kishore Kumar, Namak Haram). After Kaka, Hindi cinema forgot to make philosophical songs for good. Because, perhaps, after Kaka, every time a philosophical song came on screen, it sounded like preaching. And Rajesh Khanna- with twinkling of his eyes and nodding of his head-could convey heavy messages with élan. Even a lyrically philosophical song Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana became a rage the way Kaka enacted it on the screen and of course, the way his “voice” crooned it.

With Rajesh Khanna, we have lost many more. No matter how much the girls today adore Hrithik Roshan or Salman Khan, it takes a lot of passion to write love letters to your hero with your own blood. Yes, the melodrama he showed on screen, actually hit the nerves of the people in real life also. Who could do such hysteria in our Cinema ever?

Rest in peace, Kaka.

An Ode to Entertainment- Charlie Chaplin and Kishore Kumar

We are inherently laid back people. By “we”, I mean the entire human race, of course. We made Einstein work as a clerk before he invented Relativity. We made Van Gough die of poverty without realizing his talent. We made Bill Gates drop out of school!! Well, the list goes on and on. Recognition to a talent, by us, is affected by many social, political, cultural, perceptual and economic surroundings. Many people raise above them, some take time to do so and some fail.

In the field of Art, Entertainment has always been held low. The question then comes “why”? Perhaps, it lacks the Aristocratic, Blue blooded legacy of its other counterparts. Delve the question, “Why do we need entertainment”? In mediaeval ages, all forms of entertainment were available to people, but for different “class”. Not all could listen to Tansen, could they? Neither could all sneak through the lanes of Umraao Jaan- for different reasons of course. With the advent of the twentieth century and the gradual diminishing stature of the rich and the poor, the World saw lots of changes. We saw Wars, we saw economic depressions, we saw hunger and we saw technology as well!! People got busier. More work and less play. To one’s surprise, Man found that there are more reasons to cry and less reasons to smile!! And still, even with the advent of Twenty First century, we don’t appreciate this amazing fact that to make people smile is one of the best things a human being can do! Entertainment is still considered as something pedestrian, although we all love to get entertained at the core of our hearts.  

The two persons we discuss here- one is a Global legend and the other an Indian subcontinent legend(confined mainly due to the Language), could do what Entertainment needed- to make it the elite. Two had many dissimilarities, but some amazing similarities also, as we would see, starting from social, personal, political and artistic parallels to the mass appeal and lack of recognition also. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin and Kishore Kumar Ganguly had left an unending impression of their artistic genius to the coming generations, in spite of many efforts to bring their genius down by many agencies. They still stand high.

                

Their Versatility:  

They could act, sing, dance, compose, and produce movies and direct movies. They were multi-talented genius, who learnt all by themselves. Chaplin appeared as the Tramp character first time in 1914. The world staggered with the advent of the First World War, Chaplin gave people entertainment. His masterpiece acts in The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), The City Lights (1931), The Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940) had comic relief along with strong socio-political messages. As the actor- producer-director, Chaplin had the audacity to challenge the conventional. His sublime scores in movies like Limelight (1952), gives Chaplin character a different shade- a shade of soothing, a shade of peace. Of course, like natural to a multi-talented artist, Chaplin is mainly remembered as a film maker and not a musician.

Kishore Kumar’s acting brilliance elated common men in India. Kishore, like Chaplin, liked to keep things simple. His natural acting and singing, first gave him a successful career as an actor in the 50s, and then, following a lean period in the mid-60s, a heavily successful singing career from 70s to late 80s- till his death. Along with that, Kishore produced and directed half a dozen movies, gave music to around 100 songs, and wrote the lyrics of some.

Their Comedy:

They were the prisoners of their own images. As Chaplin himself, made sarcasm at this genre in his classic “Limelight” with a dialogue by a character: “Comedy is not important”, nothing could testify better. Their comedy had a basic difference: While Chaplin used to combine slapsticks with a social message in the back, Kishore’s comedies were mainly jovial and light hearted with full of antics. Chaplin was politically verbose in his acts; Kishore gave a damn to politics. But, ironically, both of them suffered political roadblocks in their artistic career, which we would discuss later.

And both of them could give their acting a different dimension with a Limelight and a Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein. Coming out of their comical image, they could deliver timeless masterpieces to their fans.

Their Mass Appeal:

People never let them down. Chaplin was a craze and the only superstar during the First World War. He kept that momentum up always. People could understand Chaplin- an inherent quality an entertainer should possess. Yes, he did lose some contact with his loyal base in the 40s, but recovered it also.

Kishore Kumar was a rage in the 70s in India. What we call as a “mass hysteria” now, this guy gave a new definition to the stage performance and playback singing. He would dance on the stage, yodel behind the mike; make audience share the stage with him and all sorts of unconventional stuff one could imagine those days. A shackle free singing and performance gave Kishore the mass hysteria, continued even today, with a whole lot of present day singers keeping his legacy intact.

   

Their Personal Lives:

Yet another similarity- both were married four times. Considering Chaplin and Kishore both had stumbling blocks in terms of elite class acceptance, one of the major reasons which can be cited, is this. As I said, too many perceptual and personal stimuli influence our likes and dislikes, Chaplin and Kishore’s artistic achievements were more than occasionally eclipsed by their personal lives and activities.

Lack of Recognition:



A Postal Stamp issued on Kishore



                                            

Academy Awards were installed in 1928, and since then till 1972, Chaplin received none. His movies like Circus and The Great Dictator were nominated and ignored. Blockbusters like City Lights and Modern Times were ignored. Limelight was banned in US due to political circumstances (we would discuss later), only to be re-released in 1972 and fetching the only competitive Academy Award for Chaplin (The Best Musical Score). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year, a mere consolation for a constantly ignored artist. He did receive Knighthood in 1975- just a year before his death- just to make it “not too late”. Thanks to his long life, Sir Charles, could at least make something up in recognition in an illustrious career of 60 years!

Kishore Kumar won no award for acting and directing movies. As a singer, he was a sensation, but his Awards don’t speak this truth. He did receive 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Playback Singers, but then, the award itself has often been considered pedestrian due to the procedure and groupism behind it. He also received 4 BFJA (Bengal Film Journalists’ Award) awards for best singer but that is also nullified by his anti-group citing Regional flavour. Towards the fag end of his career and life, he received Madhya Pradesh Government’s prestigious Lata Mangeshkar Award, but that too after lot of hullaballoo from a member of the Jury- a music director who had never used Kishore as a singer and did not want the award to be given to him (He himself being the awarded in the previous year). – Courtesy: Original Source.

Political Roadblocks:

Chaplin spoofed Hitler, spoofed Capitalism of Modern America, showed darker sides of the Great Depression and raised vocal tone against Racism, albeit all in a Comic shade. It is quite natural for him to find roadblocks. Post World War II, Chaplin was termed as a communist in America and there were many political spying started on him. His last Hollywood movie “Limelight” was denied a release. This left Chaplin in a sour mood and he decided to leave America for good. For twenty years, Chaplin did not return to US. Only for a few days, he made a sojourn in 1972, to receive the Honorary Oscar. Chaplin died in Switzerland in 1976, far away from his Native England and his second home USA.

Kishore was never into politics. It is hardly recorded if at all he had any political acumen. He knew his art and he knew his pennies. Having seen the toughest of days of struggle, once reaching the pinnacle, Kishore wanted his accounts clear. Nothing for free, was his motto. Whereas, there have been many philanthropies he had done for the needy people, for the producers or the “affordable”, there was no mercy. So, when he was asked to perform for free by the Government, he revolted. He was banned by Government; there was a propaganda which ran against him, only to be lifted after 2 years. And remember, there was no apology given by Kishore Kumar. Along with his Art and his Commerce, Kishore Kumar maintained another thing very well- his Dignity.


Their Enigma:


Strange personalities they possessed. There have been innumerable personal stories on them which are revolving in the cloud. Their whimsical character, moody personality and humarous yet kind nature have been the topic of discussion just like their art and creation. If Peter Ustinov is to be believed, Chaplin once mentioned the Great moviemaker Ingmer Bergman as "Burger"!!


One put all his lifetime savings into one single project "The Great Dictator" and made it a hit and the other replicated the same with "Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein" and delivered the same result.

Their Legacy:



Musician Chaplin with the Fiddle



                                                         

Had there been no language barrier, Kishore Kumar would have been the nearest competitor to Charlie Chaplin in terms of an Entertainer. Comedy and Entertainment never had the Blue Blood in US before Chaplin arrived and the same replicated in India with Kishore Kumar. With common people and the youth always backing up their legacy, it is impossible to ignore these two wizards as long as people continue to smile in this world.

Kishore on "uncommon" faces

Here I list 10 of my all time favourite Kishore Kumar numbers which were picturized on "uncommon" faces, who were no superstars. And tell you what, this is surely going to raise your love for Kishore, knowing how he could give superhits with some miserable faces on screen.

1. Teri duniya se hoke majboor chala(1970)- picturized on Parikshit Sahani- This evergreen sad song from Pavitra Papi(1970), written and composed by Prem Dhawan remains an all time favourite. Soulfully sung by Kishore, the song was lip synced by Parikshit Sahani, whose movies as hero can be counted on fingertips. The song had everything mesmerizing, except the actor and his woodden expressions.

2. Chalte chalte mere yeh geet(1976)- the song which made Bappi Lahiri. I try to memorize the name of the hero lip syncing this song and I forget everytime, now that I have given up at last. Was he some nephew of Dev Anand or something? Good that I did not see him too many times on screen. Again, leaving him apart, the song is a timeless beauty.

3. Dil kya kare jab kisise(1975)- Even Vikram's shorts looked better than his comic expressions on screen. This was supposed to be a sensous number, an all time favourite for teenagers even today, and yes, only to listen to and not to watch!!

4. Jeena to hai par ae dil kaha(1973)- Personally I rate this as one of the finest sad songs created by Pancham and Kishore. And if you have not been lucky enough to see the picturization of this song, dont miss Manu Narang and his acting!!!! Do get back to me after watching!

5. Yeh naina yeh kajal(1976)- Yet another beauty from Bappi Lahiri. Surprisingly, if he had composed some of his crappiests for Kishore, he also did many of his finests also. This is one of them picturized on some Bhishma Sahani.

6. Yeh wohi geet hai jisko maine(1972)- Jaidev and Kishore Kumar: a combination which came together only for 6 songs, and this one is easily the best of them picturized on Jalal Agha, who as expected, overdoes everything on screen.

7. Aap ke kamre mein koi rehta hai(1973)- Ahh...!!! The fabulous Tareq and his colourful glasses!!

8. Savere ka sooraj tumhare liye hai(1972)- Again a beauty from Kishore Kumar. His last recorded song with O P Nayyar and easily the best as well. Masterfully written poetry, sublime singing and striking composition with Dev Mukherjee on screen, who honestly, did not do a bad job.

9. Baharon ka yeh mausam suhana(1986)- The twilight times of Ravi, this sizzling tune was picturized on Pankaj Dheer- the Karna of Mahabharata. Of course, he played the role of Karna better.

And last but not the least, rather the best of this lot of evergreen beauties, the oldest and the most obscure- Jagmag jagmag karta nikla chand poonam ka pyara. I keep it at the last because there is no video available of this song today, but it is only known that it was picturized on Kishore Sahu in Rimjhim(1949). Those days, Kishore Sahu used to be a hero, but today he is most remembered as the man who played Dev Anand's father in Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

S D and his changing preferences

What was going through in the mind of the young Kumar Sachin Dev Burman, when he took the microphone to record a song in Yahudi Ki Ladki in 1933? Sources say, although not validated, he wanted to become an established singer in Bengal. What he turned out to be was the best music director in India. And, I have chosen my bold letters very carefully. S D was a great singer himself, even the lack of recognition as a singer in Bengal might have been one of the major reasons that he moved to Bombay. Another reason could have been to come out of the image of a folk singer and to try out something different. Whatever be the reason, it is a fact today that S D Burman had been the longest standing music director in the history of Hindi Film Music, who died right at the top , giving competition to his own genius son at the age of 69.

The writer admits right at the beginning that he is no scholar on the vast subject of S D Burman. There are far too many people who are delving deep into this man's work and exploring newer things everyday.

Owing to his standard as a vocal performer, S D knew his singers very well. Although he was older to most of the first generation music directors in Hindi films, IE, Khemchand Prakash, Anil Biswas and Naushad- SD started his innings as an independent musician in Bombay late, in fact pretty late, at the age of 40. And the first achievement he got was to come out of his Bengali background and create partnership with people who did not even know Bhatiyali and Dhamail. His first patron was late K C Dey- the blind singer, to whom SD had assisted for a long time in the 40s and then Ashok Kumar of Bombay Talkies, who had given him the first break in Hindi films with Shikari and Eight Days(both in 1946).

SD's peak period cannot be determined in mere periodical figures. He was one of the top three in the 50s, 60s as well as the 70s. This article looks at the various combinations SD had formed with the singers throughout his careers, and interestingly, with all his top 5 singers- SD had a fallout, sometimes or another.

It hardly mattered to the grand old man. His top 4 singers were- Lata Mangeshkar(around 175 songs), Asha Bhosle(around 135 songs), Kishore Kumar(around 122 songs) and Mohammed Rafi(around 100 songs). Tell you what, you can simply count the number of movies where SD had used all these four together( Teen Deviyan, Jewel Thief, Aradhana- all falling in the mid to late 60s , come to the mind immediately). Clearly shows the shift of preferences SD always had.

SD's most famous rift perhaps was that with Lata Mangeshkar. Facts say, he stopped recording with Lata in 1957 and then resumed again in 1962- a gap of five years, whereas, theoretically, Lata had releases with SD right up to 1958- Seetaron se Aagey- which might have been recorded earlier, and resumed again in 1962 with Dr. Vidya. Considering 1961 to be a year when SD had no releases, SD-Lata stood blank only for 2 years..!!!!, quite contradicting to the fallout which have been hyped so much in Hindi film music- 1959 and 1960. SD had three releases in 59- Kagaz ke Phool, Insaan Jaag Utha and Sujata-all sans Lata and six releases in 60- Ek Ke Baad Ek, Kala Bazaar, Bombai ka Babu, Akalmand, Apna Haath Jagannath and Manzil- again all without Lata. He had some more albums which did not have Lata , like Nau Do Gyarah(1957) and Chhupa Rustam(1973), but they fell either sides of the famous fallout period.

So, Lata Mangeshkar- the primary female singer under SD's baton, had a fallout with the Grand Old Man for a couple of years, and still SD kept on going good. Then, almost converging with the same period, SD had a rift with his most used male singer- Kishore Kumar. Although, cannot be termed as a "rift" in true sense, from 1958-1964, SD used Kishore only in four movies- Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Bewakoof, Apna Haath Jagannath and Naughty Boy- all featuring Kishore himself as the hero. This was quite contradicting to the fact that between 1951-1957, Kishore was the number one male singer for SD singing 33 songs in 17 films. The result for SD, however, was the same- unaffected.

The reason for the fallout of Kishore and Lata were mostly on personal grounds, as the trivia goes. However, there were three serious fall outs which SD had, and all three were taken judiciously by SD with his professional senses proving too strong to his personal likes. The first casualty was Geeta Dutt(ne'e, Roy)- who had given SD his first hit song- Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya and his first hit album- Baazi. Geeta-SD were the first superstar singer-MD combo in Hindi Film Music and rocked the arena with hits like Do Bhai(1947), Pyar(1950), Baazi(1951), Jaal(1952) and Pyasa(1957). But when SD decided to call it a day with Geeta, post-Kagaz Ke Phool(1959) , there were hardly any personal grounds behind it. It was as if SD could read the writings on the wall that Geeta was too tired to carry on the baton and hence Asha should be the first substitute of Lata for his ventures.

Asha also had an end to her dream run. 1958, 1959 and 1960 saw Asha Bhosle featuring as the leading female singer in all the movies of SDB, doing full justice to her role of a substitute to Lata Mangeshkar in SD camp. While Asha did full justice to whatever SDB had given her in that period, when SD patched up with Lata, Asha was simply put to second position yet again. Post-Bandini, Asha Bhosle had hardly anything serious to sing under SDB. Although, with her true genius, she could convert a peppy "Raat Akeli hai" into a timeless classic.

And then, there was Rafi- SD's last fallout. Mohd. Rafi was like an esteemed guest in the recording studios of SD until 1957. He sang for SD in Do Bhai, SD's first major hit and since then he had been sporadically there in movies like Ek Nazar(1951), Naujawan(1951), Jeevan Jyoti(1953), Society(1954), Devdas(1955) etc singing occasional numbers. Things changed in 1957 with Pyasa, when Guru Dutt insisted SD to go for Rafi as the primary singer. Rafi obliged with elan and since then for the coming 7-8 years, SD denied to see anything beyond Rafi. SD-Rafi created some of the most memorable songs in that period like Beechhde sabhi bari bari, Khoya khoya chand, Saathi na koi manzil, Hum bekhudi mein tumko, Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar, Sunle tu dil ki sada, Aese to na dekho, Kahi bekhayak hokar, Din dhal jaye, Tere mere sapne etc. What more, it was S D Burman, who played the major role to patch up the long rift between Lata and Rafi and not the latter's other more touted partners like Shankar Jaikishen, Madan Mohan or Naushad.

The late years of the 60s were not good for SD. He had no releases in 1966 and 1968 and only one in 1967. The good work he had done with Guide(1965) was on the verge of getting marred. 69 was crucial for him and he was back with a bang with Aradhana. Kishore, after many years, proved to be the trump card for SD again, and Rafi- his primary singer for the last 12 years, took a backseat. No personal grudge, no singing fault, no artistic difference- SD placed aside Rafi, just like what he had earlier done to Geeta for Asha and Asha for Lata- reading the writings on wall, that the time was changing...

And with all these changes, what remained unchanged was his music, his melody. If he could do a Jayein to jayein kaha with Talat in 1954, so he could a Din dhal jaye with Rafi in 1965 and so he could a Badi sooni sooni hai with Kishore in 1975.

Kishore Kumar and his "Bengali" image

The above image of the chief minister of West Bengal(or, Paschimbanga- as it is currently named) garlanding the artist Kishore Kumar (1929-1987) on his 82nd birth anniversary on 4th August 2011 in her own office, indicates a quantum change in the perception of the Bengalis towards this genius. Not very long ago, entertainment in this state was taken as a lower grade of arts and entertainers were from a species not to be revered but only to be enjoyed. Question comes then, why such change?

Well, Kishore belonged to a period of "artistic brilliance in Bengal". He was not born in Bengal, neither he had a mainstream role in Bengali cinema and music for quite some time. Bengalis were preoccupied with the music of Tagore and Nazrul with intermittent inputs from Hemanta, Manna, Shyamal, Manabendra, Satinath, Sandhya and many other local breed talents. Being hailed from a middle class Bengali family myself, I could feel the indifference major Bengali music lovers had for Kishore Kumar. Too light, too fast and sometimes too modern as well..!!!

Kishore's first Bengali song came almost in the same time of his Hindi debut. The assembled number of Samar(1950) never came to notice in Bengal. He did make a more serious venture into mainstream Bengali movies and music with Lukochuri(1958), but again, a big hit notwithstanding, the reception was "casual". Many people perceived Kishore's antics in Lukochuri a mere translation in Bengali from what he was already doing in Bombay. Also, from Kishore's perspective as well, he might have assessed the monumental task of penetrating into Bengali mass and hence, concentrated more in his Hindi assignments, which were, by then, reduced to only acting.

There are very few anecdotes available today as to how Bengali musicians assessed Kishore's musical prowess that time. The traditional school of Bengali music, lead by the likes of Nachiketa Ghosh, Robin Chatterjee, Satinath Mukhopadhyay etc had hardly anything to say about him. Hemanta Mukhopadhyay was the only one working with Kishore, albeit only in the Bengali movies where Kishore himself was the hero- Lukochuri, Ektuku Chhoan Laage and Dushtu Projapati. Although, even with this limited association, Hemanta had given Kishore some of his best compositions like "Ei to hethay kunjo chhayay" ,"Chholoki chholoki man tanu" , "Shudhu ektukhaani chaoa" (with Geeta Dutt).

Not that there were not exceptions. The above photograph and the song is more than often discussed. But, again, they were taken on a much lighter note(something like the reception of rock band singer Anindya singing a Rabindrasangeet in Rituparno Ghosh's "Shubho Mahorat" today), "exceptions"- that is what they used to say.

Perhaps, the problem with "artist" Kishore Kumar was that his life changing album was "Aradhana" and not "Safar" or "Amar Prem", which came later. It was easy to assume that Kishore was a light singer and Bengal hardly had any allowance of light songs in their school of music.

And this label followed Kishore in spite of his undisputed dominance in the much larger Hindi music arena in the 70s and 80s. Shyamal Mitra was the first to lift the image to a small extent. Unfortunately, "Bipin babur karan shudha" was more popular on the lips of a drunken Uttam Kumar in "Amanush" than "Ki ashay bandhi khelaghar"- a sparkling semi-classical gem from the same film.

Between 1968-1975, Kishore came out with several non-film modern Bengali songs, each and every one being in the highest musical value league. He himself composed Raga Puriya Dhaneshri based "Aamaar deep nebhaano raat", Lata Mangeshkar composed for him " Aami nei aami nei"- a soulful composition sung with extreme vocal accomplishment by Kishore and R D Burman skillfully and delicately composing a lifetime " She to elo na". Kishore Kumar, after a long time, it seemed to have gained a place in the hearts of Bengali music lovers.

Kishore's low involvement in Bengali music in the 70s can be attributed to the fact that Hindi movies were still creating good music that time and hence he might not have felt the need to do something more serious in Bengali as well as to the fact that his major partners in that period like SDB, RDB, LP, KA or RR were not doing any music in Bengali in the 70s. Come 80s, Bengali movies and music underwent a sharp descent just like their counterparts in Bombay. Uttam Kumar was gone and so was, alongwith him, the evergreen romantic musicals. Nachiketa Ghosh breathed his last in 1976, Hemanta was too old to keep on going and Salil Chowdhury decided to focus only on very very limited assignments. The torch bearers left were Shyamal Mitra, who again had drastically cut down on his assignments and the Bomaby "importeds" like Sapan Jagmohan, Bappi Lahiri and R D Burman.

Definitely, not a period to be recalled with fondness, Bappi churned out insignificant numbers one after another, "mumbai-nizing" the Bengali music and Pancham, it seemed, clicked only with his non-film modern Bengali song albums. All his Bengali ventures that period- "Troyee","Kalankini Konkaboti", "Teen Murti", "Anyay Abichaar" do not justify the genius of Pancham- perhaps the greatest ever MD in Hindi films after his father. So, Kishore was reduced to singing in Bengali films largely under Bappi and Ajay Das- with horrible movies for more horrible faces like Sukhen Das..!! So, a gem like "Aaj milon tithir poornima chand" went unnoticed with Sukhen Das and a stray "Ek taanete jemon temon" or "Kheye oi laathi lyang" became cult songs with Mithun Chakraborty on screen.

This made an interesting transformation again. Kishore Kumar now became a "mass popular singer" in Bengal and a hot favourite amongst all the rookie crooners in Puja pandals and Local trains with intellectual Bongs drifting farther away from him. Even two full albums of Rabindrasangeet released in 1981 and 1986 could not repair the damage, as he was singing "Diner sheshe ghumer deshe" and "Rakhalchandra Mataal" in the same year, and yes, "versatility" was a taboo as far as traditional Bengali music was concerned.

So, now the million dollar question- how come sudden change in the perception today, after 25 years of Kishore's death?? Why suddenly reams and reams of papers are spent glorifying how Satyajit Ray used to admire Kishore or Hemanta had given some of his best compositions to Kishore or how his Rabindrasangeets are so unique even today?? The chief minister declaring that Kishore Kumar songs should be played during the traffic signals on the roads of Kolkata was a bit too much to digest for those who had always been fed with Akhil Bondhu Ghosh and Jaganmay Mitra.

Is Bengal desparately looking for a National Hero today? With music being one of their proudest domains, what Bengal can claim today at the National level is Pritam Chakraborty and Shantanu Moitra. Uttam Kumar might have been the superstar of Bengal, but 99% Indians outside Bengal yawn at this name, vaguely recalling Amanush and Chhoti Si Mulaqat.

And Kishore Kumar and Rahul Dev Burman have become youth icons! A gradual study and evolution in music have delved up a strange fact that these two together, had created music which was much much ahead of their times. So, the forgotten gems are revisited, unnoticed numbers that time are awed at and the intellectuals relook at their stances that time. Yes, perhaps, Kishore Kumar was a genius. He was a singing superstar when he died, and a comprehensive artist 25 years after his death.