India celebrates the birth anniversary of legendary singer Kishore Kumar on August 4, 2024. Synonymous with sweetness, enthusiasm and versatility, Kumar was more than just a singer. His distinctive voice and unmatched ability to convey emotions in every note made him an irreplaceable treasure in the Indian music industry. From soulful songs to lively dance tracks, the scope of his work was as wide as his talent. On his 95th birth anniversary, we recall the time when a musician referred to him as a non-singer.
According to senior journalist Raju Bharatan’s 2010 book A Journey Down Melody Lane, when a director cast Kishore Kumar as the lead actor in a film, Kumar thought he would also be chosen as the lead singer for his role. However, the film’s music composer, the legendary Salil Chowdhary, had plans to cast singer Hemant Kumar.
On learning this, Kishore Kumar met Choudhary at Mohan Studio in Andheri and asked him for a chance. However, Choudhary replied that he had never heard any of his songs, and said, “I have not heard a single song of yours in Calcutta.” When Kishore started singing to showcase his talent, Choudhary interrupted him and said, “You don’t even know the ABC of music.”
Kumar sang two of his favourite songs of the time, Marne Ki Duayan Kyun Mangoon from the 1948 film Ziddi and Jagmag Jagmag Karta Nikla from the 1949 film Rimjhim. Despite this, Salil Chowdhary was still not impressed and described Kishore’s singing as “difficult”.
Eventually, after many others said good things in favour of Kishore Kumar and persuaded the composer, Choudhary reluctantly agreed to let him sing, although he still said that “this Kishore boy is not a singer.”
However, 17 years later, Salil Chowdhary changed his opinion about Kishore Kumar’s singing ability when the legendary singer immortalised the song Koi Hota Jis Ko Apna from Gulzar’s 1971 hit film Mere Apne. Chowdhary then admitted, “I salute Dada Burman (SD Burman) for seeing the spark in the boy.”
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