Chaitanya  Padukone

‘Badi mushkil sey magar,  duniya mein ( achhe) dost milte hain ’…goes this soulful Kishore-da song. On the occasion of World Friendship Day,  legendary genius Kishore Kumar’s actress-singer-lyricist wife Leena Chandavarkar-Ganguly is emotionally charged.  Shares Leena-jee, “Most people and his loyal fans know about  KK ( Kishore-da) as a multi-talented genius singer-actor-composer-film-maker. But  he was also a trust-worthy reliable best friend-buddy to so many  celebrities both from within the film-industry and outside.  Besides being my loving husband and a doting father to our son Sumeet, he was also my ‘best friend’ .

Kishore Kumar with wife Leena and sons Amit and Sumeet

It’s a divine coincidence that his 90^th birth anniversary falls on Friendship Day,” smiles Leena with  tears welling in her eyes.  Some of his detractors spread false rumours that he was eccentric, stingy and money-minded. On the contrary, he had a benevolent heart of gold and even sang free-of-charge sometimes. For  his close friend super-star Rajesh Khanna’s home-production ‘Alag Alag’ , Kishore-da had refused to take his singing fees and sang ‘free of charge’.

Kishore Kumar, Rajesh Khanna

“Only I know that KK was such a chivalrous  and caring husband that he went out of his way to woo me. Whenever I faced a crisis or tragedy , as a ‘best friend’ he was always my emotional anchor who mentored me,” she sighs. Incidentally, madame Ganguly’s preferred caller tune is the yesteryear Kishore-da song ‘Gham Ka Fasaana’ (‘Manchali’)  “ That’s because I keep on tunefully repeating in my voice ‘Achha Jee’ in that KK solo song and it gives me a ‘high’, that he is singing it, only for me,” she breaks into a wistful smile.

Kishore Kumar with R D Burman

Not just wife Leena and Rajesh Khanna ( Kaka-ji),  Kishore-da also shared a warm friendly bonding with his own star-singer son Amit Kumar,  legendary composer-singer R D Burman ( Pancham-da), with composer Laxmikant-Pyarelal,  with  director Shakti-da Samanta, and of course with iconic singer Mohammed Rafi. Contrary to impressions, although they were professional rivals, Kishore-da and Rafi were very good friends off-screen and sang several hit songs together such as  ‘Salaamat rahe dostaana hamara’ (Dostana) . What a heartening coincidence. Interestingly Rafi-saab has  given ‘playback’ for on-screen-actor Kishore Kumar for over seven songs including the classical ‘Man Mora Baawra’ ( Raagini-1958)

Kishore Kumar with Rafi-saab

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Genius Singer Actor, Kishore Kumar, Friendship Day, 90th Birth Anniversary,  Leena Chandavarkar