Kishore Kumar: Untold Stories and Unique Anecdotes

We all are aware of the melodious voice of Kishore Kumar, born on 4 August 1929. From romantic songs to heart-touching songs, Kishore Kumar's voice resonates everywhere. Kishore Kumar has sung songs for heroes like Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan. There was also a time when everyone used to sit around the radio after hearing his voice and enjoy singing in his beautiful voice. Let us tell you some unheard stories related to the great singer Kishore Kumar.

Kishore Kumar: The Transformative Accident and Husky Voice

It is believed that Kishore Kumar's voice was not so melodious since his birth. An accident at the age of five changed the story of Kishore Kumar. When Kishore Kumar was only five years old, he suffered a deep injury when a heavy object fell on his foot and his finger was cut. When he was taken to the doctor, the doctor amputated his finger but due to lack of antibiotics at that time, it took time for him to recover. It is said that for a month after the injury, Kishore Kumar used to cry for 20 hours a day. Because of that crying, his voice became husky, which is also called the Manly Voice of India. That incident changed his voice in such a way that such a voice has been heard once in centuries.

When Kishore Kumar came to Bombay for the first time in 1948, Khemchand Prakash gave him the first opportunity, and then one day in 1950, when S.D. Burman goes to Ashok Kumar's house, there he hears Kishore Kumar singing in the exact copy voice of KL Sehgal. Burman likes Kishore Kumar's voice very much and Burman asks Kishore Kumar to sing in his original voice. After that Burman made Kishore Kumar sing songs in many films.

The biggest turning point of Kishore Kumar's career came in 1969 when Burman asked him to sing in the film 'Aradhana', the song that Kishore Kumar sang for the film 'Aradhana' became history. These three songs of ‘Aradhana’ ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani,’ ‘Kora Kagaz Tha Man Mera,’ and ‘Roop Tera Mastana’ set the whole world on fire. With this song becoming a superhit, India also got its first superstar Rajesh Khanna and with it the uncrowned king of the music world, Kishore Kumar. Let us tell you that till 1969, 90% of the songs sung in films were sung by Rafi Saheb, but after the superhit of 'Aradhana' and the magic of Kishore Kumar's voice, from 1969 to 1987, 90% of the songs were heard in the voice of Kishore Kumar.

Kishore Kumar's popularity and the magic of his voice can be gauged from the fact that not only then but even today, after so long, people like to listen to his voice.

Let us tell you that Kishore Kumar sang 256 songs for Rajesh Khanna, and after that, Kishore Kumar sang 131 songs for Amitabh Bachchan, who became a superstar after Rajesh Khanna.

Everyone became a fan of Kishore Kumar's voice, whoever heard his voice. Be it the melodious song 'Yeh Jeevan Hai, Iss Jeevan Ka' or the romantic song 'Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas' or the semi-classical 'Mere Naina Sawan Bhado', in his voice.

One such story of Kishore Kumar is related to famous singer Bhimsen Joshi. Actually, something happened once when Bhimsen Joshi was listening to Kishore Kumar's song, a journalist asked him, "Being such a big singer, whose song are you listening to?" Hearing this, Bhimsen ji turned up the volume of the radio, and the sound was “Chingari Koi Bhadke”. Journalists started listening to this song with surprise and after this Bhimsen ji played another song of Kishore Kumar, “Zindagi ke safar mein gujar jaate”. Hearing such a beautiful voice, when the journalist asked the name of this singer, Bhimsen ji said, “This is the voice of Kishore, this is the voice of God. Such a sound comes once in centuries.”

While talking about Kishore Kumar, Rajesh Khanna used to say, “We are two bodies and one soul.”

Talking about one such incident related to Kishore Kumar, Rishi Kapoor says, “When I had newly entered this industry, the song 'O Hansini' from my film 'Zahreela Insaan' was sung by Kishore Kumar, about which I was told by Pancham Da.” Let us tell you that this song by Kishore Kumar also became a super-duper hit.

For information, let us tell you that till 1987, Kishore Kumar was nominated for Filmfare at least 27 times, out of which he was honored with the Filmfare Award eight times. On October 13, 1987, at the age of just 58, Kishore said his final goodbye to the world.

Kishore Kumar sang 2907 songs in his entire career. There is no lie in the fact that if any singer rules the hearts of India the most then it is Kishore Kumar. Kishore Kumar's voice still resides in our hearts. A voice that will continue to rule people's hearts in the times to come.

-Ayushi Sinha

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