As a young boy in the early sixties, when the mellifluous tones of the great Md.Rafi engulfed the radio, one song would haunt me with all its pathos “ Koi Hamdam Na Raha, Koi Sahara Na Raha… “ and that by a amazing singer who had written and composed it all by himself , Kishore Kumar ! This was from a pure genius with God-gifted talent and no formal training in music, that became the inspiration to millions of young people like me, who liked to hum a tune !
On his 89th Birth Anniversary, after volumes have been written, expressed and shared about his multi-dimensional charisma and that “incredible voice” as Satyajit Ray had called it, what can any ordinary person contribute as a tribute to the legend except the way he enriched lives and uplifted our spirits yesterday, does even today and will continue to do so agelessly ..
For Kishore Kumar’s life and career graph as actor-producer-director-composer and for all a most versatile singer, is nothing short of an epic, as amazing as his abilities ! The evergreen Dev Anand for whom he had sung the very first song of his career on screen in “Ziddi” way back in 1947 (“Marne ki duayen kyun mangoon…) said about Kishore in his book “…a phenomenal singing voice that years later would hypnotize the world with its resonance” .
The same thought was expressed by talented singer Sukhwinder Singh “ Kishoreda had a stereo-phonic voice..”. Both the infectious mirth and “masti” as also the depths of pathos in his inimitable singing style would later be cloned by singers from Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet , Babul Supriyo to Sudesh Bhosle and ofcourse his own son, Amit Kumar, but never with the resonant, magical quality of the original !
In his second innings as the voice of Rajesh Khanna in the 70s (and later Amitabh Bachan), Kishoreda charted out superb blockbusters not only under greats S.D. and R.D.Burman but gave his best to almost all other music directors of that time. He even sang the lilting melody “Savare Ka Suraj Tumhare Liye hai …” for O.P.Nayyar.
The greatness of those times was the respect given to peers who were professional rivals in playback singing. Kishore would sing Md.Rafi’s classic bhajan “ Man Re Tu Kahe Na Dheer Dhare …. “ in his concerts and shared great rapport with legendary sisters Asha and Lata. It is said that Hemant Kumar ( himself a very great singer and exponent of Bengali Rabindra Sangeet ) wanted a voice to capture the sublime serenity of the song “ Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi … “ from film “Khamoshi “ which he felt could only be done by Kishore. What a tune and what a rendition !
The nostalgia of old Kishore songs will never fade from our minds. From the youthful exuberant hope of “ Chota Sa Ghar Hoga Badalo Ki Chaoan Mein .. “ to the philosophical journey of the long travel of life “ Panthi Hoon Main Us Path Ka, Anth Nahi Uska …“ , Kishoreda, you gave us all to cherish in happy times or sad times ….
Working on Living 