Kishore kumar's Biography

Kishore Kumar was born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly on the 4th of August, 1929, in a middle class family in Khandwa. His father Kunjalal Ganguly, a lawyer by profession, was a modest man. At the age of 18, Kishore came to Bombay where elder brother Ashok Kumar was a major star. Abhas Kumar changed his name to Kishore Kumar and started his cinema career as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkies, where his brother worked. 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 KL Saigal, the song was sung in the style of the legend. Kishore Kumar did not have a formal training in music, but it was just a matter of time before he started taking a keen interest in movies and music. But in spite of Ziddi's success, Kishore found few offers forthcoming and did the odd singing assignment with bit roles making a rather tepid acting debut as hero in the forgettable Andolan (1951). Later he approached SD Burman who had given him an opportunity in Pyar (1950) where interestingly he had sung for Raj Kapoor for more singing work. Burmanda gave him the song Qusoor Aapka in Bahar (1951) which became a raging hit. As he got more singing assignments, he also began being offered leading roles in films. Kishore was initially taken quite lightly as a singer and was given mainly lighter songs by Burmanda and other music directors. But with his soulful rendering of Dukhi Man Mere from Funtoosh (1956), Kishore was now taken seriously as a singer. Though he was formally untrained, he assimilated jazz-scat fragmented musical notes into a rhythmic sequence and once its beat was established, departed from the pattern and combined notes and words/ syllables into new kinds of musical harmony. And none could yodel better than he could! On the acting front, by now Kishore was becoming a major star acting opposite all the top heroines of the day. He of course sang for himself and outside that he gave playback only for Dev Anand. Though it is said he loathed acting and did everything to make himself a failure, it must be said that Kishore was in fact an extremely competent actor and not just in comedy. He could handle roles with elements of tragedy as well with ease.

An early film where Kishore made his mark as an actor was Bimal Roy's Naukri (1954). Since his madcap comic persona had not yet developed totally and he was working with a director like Bimalda, Naukri sees an extremely sincere, sensitive and restrained performance from him. Kishore Kumar is totally at home be it the more serious scenes in the film or even in the comic scenes. The comic scenes however are not the typical slapstick Kishore scenes but lighthearted and gentle like most Bimal Roy scenes and bring a smile to one's lips rather than uproarious laughter. The germs are obviously there for Kishore's developing personality as a madcap comedian. The scene where he sings out his dialogue is apparently something he often did in real life himself! With hit films like Baap re Baap (1955), New Delhi (1956), Miss Mary (1957) and Asha (1957), Kishore reached his peak as an actor with the zany comedy Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958), directed by Satyen Bose, which starred all the three Ganguly brothers along with Madhubala. Kishore and Madhubala matched each other step for step brilliantly in this comic caper with SD Burman composing such wonderful lighthearted ditties as Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka, Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi si and Paanch Rupaiya Barah Anna.

After Kishore's marriage to Ruma Devi disintegrated, he married Madhubala. The two starred in Jhumroo (1961), which Kishore produced and directed. He also composed the music of the film. The film had some lovely songs like Main Hoon Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhumroo, Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhani, Koi Hamdam Na Raha among others. The riotous Half Ticket (1962) with the two of them saw Kishore at his madcap best impersonating a 12 year old! The duets Chand Raat Tum ho Saath and Aankhon Mein Tum became extremely popular from the film. Door Gagan ki Chaon Main (1964) further confirmed Kishore's acting talent as he scored heavily in a rather serious film. But the 60s also saw Kishore fall from grace as beset by tax problems he was reduced to doing B-films with the likes of Kum Kum though films with the pair like Mr. X in Bombay (1964) still did well at the box office. He scored heavily in Pyar Kiye Ja (1966) and Padosan (1968) but they were supporting roles rather then the lead. He had the odd singing assignment for Dev Anand in Guide (1965) and Jewel Thief (1967) but that was all. He did work with the great Satyajit Ray in this period in perhaps the maestro's greatest film, Charulata (1964). In the film Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee) serenades Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee) with the famous Tagore song Aami Chini-Go-Chini, sung brilliantly by Kishore.