For filmdom’s illustrious ‘Ganguly’ parivaar, 13th October day has had mixed historical significance – it happened to be eldest brother and thespian actor, Dadamoni’s (Ashok Kumar) birthday but most ironically became the tragic day when youngest brother and singer extraordinaire, Kishore Kumar passed away in 1985 at the age of 58, leaving a grieving family and a legion of fans, followers and music lovers who still adore him.
Four decades have now gone by since the legendary Kishoreda left on his longest ‘safar’ (journey), yet he still trends on top of the charts as crazecontinues across generations including GenZee for his incredibly mellifluous voice, rhythm, melody, comic timing that yodels its way intoa billions hearts withgay abandon, but also turns philosophical& heartrending with pathos, reflecting vicissitudes of life or the pangs of separation !
So much has already been shared, spoken and written about his tumultuous personal life with a fair share of anecdotes on his idiosyncrasies and insights into the life of a musical genius who never believed in pretensions and despite the eccentric image, enjoyedsolitude, mysticism of nature and shunned fickleness of human relationships. For die-hard Kishore fans, it comes as no surprise that in his interpretation of ‘zindagi’ (life) his versatile singing expressed all the different hues & shades. Let’s look at how some of his superb renditions of the ‘Zindagi’ theme in his songs play out :
*Life means never to stop, to keep moving on
‘Ik raasta hai Zindagi, joh tham gaye toh kuch nahi..’ from ‘Kala Pathar’
*Life teaches us triumph comes after defeat
‘Zindagi ki yahi reet hai, haar ke baad jeet hai..’ from ‘Mr. India’
*Life is not knowing what comes tomorrow
‘Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahan kal kya ho kisne jana..’ from ‘Andaz’.
*Life gives no second chances, what’s done is gone
‘Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jate hai jo mukaam ..’ from ‘Aap Ki Kasam’
*Life’s journey is a mystery, no one can fathom it
‘Zindagi ka safar hai yeh kaisa safar koi samjha nahi koi jana nahi’ from ‘Safar’.
*Life is a song oflove that every heart must sing
‘Zindagi pyar ka geet hai, ise har dil ko gana padega..’ from Souten
Another feature in his amazing range of Hindi film songs of different genres was his love for symbolism in the idea of life being a journey, that we were travelers who are never sure of our destinations but the varied experiences we gather often take us to our paths & goals. In one of his finest songs that he himself composed & rendered was from the philosophic ‘Door Ka Rahi’ as he sang ‘Panthi hoon main us path ka, aanth nahi jiska, aas mere hai jiski disha, aadhar mere maan ka..’.So sublime and beautiful !
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