Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar : The Everlasting Voice

It was Kishore Kumar who successfully became Hindi cinema's comic hero whose popularity relied primarily on his comic talents. Add to that his phenomenal acting talent and amazing singing voice and you have a performer who bordered on the genius. Kishore Kumar was born on 4th August 1929 in a middle class home at Khandwa. He was the youngest in the family.

Bollywood Calling
At the age of 18, he came to Bombay where elder brother Ashok Kumar was a major star. He got his first opportunity as a singer in Bombay Talkies Ziddi (1948) where he sang the song Marne ki Duayen Kyon Mangu for Dev Anand. Being an ardent admirer of K.L. Saigal, the song was sung in the style of the legend. He gradutaed into acting and made his debut as hero in the forgettable andolen (1951).

After his marriage to Ruma Devi resulted in a split in the family, Kishore approached S.D. Burman and then he was flodded with singing assignments. Though he was formally untrained, he assimilated jazz-scat fragmented musical notes into a rhythmic sequence. His name is synonymous with the yodelling that started out in the music world. Kishore formed a solid hit pairing with Rajesh Khanna and in the early 70s the duo churned out hit after hit.