Kishore the singer - King of all trades..
There are always those who excel in something when they put everything into it. That is quite a commendable achievement as most people do not achieve success in their chosen fields or professions. But then, there is also a different category altogether - those who do more than one thing at a time and excel at everything they do. It’s like having a Midas touch - everything you try turns to gold. The world adores such people and it also loves to hate them, in a way. It pokes in some deep recess of every person’s mind that someone exists who loves to do more than one thing and does it well. So while the respect and admiration grows for them openly, they unconsciously or consciously revel in their failure too.
One such person was Kishore Kumar - born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly. When he came to the city of Bombay as young man, his brother Ashok Kumar was quite successful in films. Expectedly, one would say it would have been logical to follow in his footsteps. Though Kishore was all set, there was something that fascinated and interested him a lot more - singing. He was not a trained singer but as some say talent is something you are born with. Though raw, he was great at picking things up like his famous yodeling. In his initial days when no one took him seriously as a singer, he used to imitate the great Saigal Saab until he was made to realize that he needed to develop his own style.
As he started making it as an actor, there were those who believed in his singing capability. One of his earlier breaks was given by Khemchand Prakash and Kishore Kumar did the playback for the film Ziddi. Then a messiah came in the form of S.D. Burman and they both forged a deep bond that lasted for very long. Soon Kishore was regarded as Dev Anand’s voice and did score of films like Munimji, Taxi Driver, Fantoosh, House No. 44 being a couple of them. He also has some timeless classics with Asha Bhonsle like the songs from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi - all becoming extremely popular.
A score of people were clamoring for Kishore now as they finally stood up and took notice. Big music directors like Laxmikant- Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji started working with him on a regular basis. Kishore Kumar finally got what he wanted.
But that was not all that he wanted. During his lifetime, he sang, acted, directed, produced, wrote - all these getting him commercial and professional attention. He did everything that he wanted to do and because of his take on life, he became one of those special people. Counted amongst the finest singers that Bollywood has seen, one thing that was totally unique about him was that he excelled at singing because of his desire and inner talent, not to mention hard work. This gives inspiration to all those out there who get dissuaded just because they don’t have professional training.
As mentioned before, many people term such gifted people as eccentrics and Kishore was no different. But there was something he taught us all - if you want something bad enough and work hard for it, there is little chance that what others speak is going to affect you. You see, he taught us a lot more than just to listen to his eternal voice.
© Copyrighted to Yoodleeyoo.com All Rights Reserved.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Somw songs like “Kab tak andhere man ko chalenge” kishore’s voice is immortal and very soothing. i have not found this efect in rafi. i liked him in “khoya khoya chand ” very much “pukarata gali very much” suhani raat dhal chuki”very much did not like in ” O duniya ke rakhwale”. also listen the number “na jane kaise.. ye dunike badlate rishte” kishore excels rafi ofr mahindra ( I do not know the singer) and lata at high notes.
moreover ven in late 80s his voice was melodious ” zindagi ki yehi reet hai” rafi spoit “maine pucha chandese” and “darde dil” i gueess udit narayan would have done better justice to “darde dil” and yesydas to ” maine pucha chandse” lp and rd never evn tried yesudas as he was a threat to Rafi! ( being the voice of similar type) .
Yeh jeevan hai AAnewala pal, Chookar mere manko etc are sung marvelously by kk these type of songs are not suited to rafi of SPBor yesudas? what about zindagi ka safar, aa chal ke tuze. another kishore miracle imposiible for rafi, yesudas SPB is “k0i hota jisko apna hum apna kahalate yaro” by salil chofhary and “gujar gaye din din “. if u do not get carried away by classical notes in asong then “hume tumse pyar kitana” by kishore touches the heart with soft appealing voice and special prnounciation of words like “jalta” . this is the only example of a sugam sangget singer against “a classical singer” for 2 versions of a song. kishore’s is a bhavgeet version parvenn sultanas is a mujra. the one which impresses emotions is the bhavgeet version . the mujra also impresses for it’s beautiful classical rendition. RD burman carefull selected kishore’s version in a program on radio . on the other hand for Yaad aa rahi hai he selected amit/lata version rather than amit version. This shows the trmendous faith rd had in kishore. Rd tried kishore in a variety of songs as comapred to SDB ( semicalssical, sad, light romantic”) rajesh roshan’s kishore is trul;y reflected in the song “kab tak andhere” from amol palekar starrer and what agreat impact. again kishore has sung beautiful bhajan ” muze prem ka rog laga” when for other songs lp used rafi in the film. he sang “mere sang sang aaya teri yado ka mela ” in a very modern style of singing. he did sang some ghzals. with mahindra he sang serious devotinal song “sagare jagat ka tu rakhwala” under KA a memorable song. he has sung almost every variety. moreover the variety like gfhazal quwwali ” is orthodox classification. it does not include “are diwano mai hu don” variety, “zindagi aa raha hy mai”with rhidayanath another variety of meeting zindagi with tadaf, the solitude ness feeling songs, nature description song “hawaone pe likh de hawaone ke naam” the outburst of natural singing ” yeh wahi geet hai jise maine dhadkan me samaya” and uncoventiobally sung “koi roko na deewane ko”, the yodelling fun “mai hu zumroo” aashiki songs “nakharewali” re met na mila “, life philosophy songs, the coneversational songs “accha to hum chalate hei”. none of these variety is covereed in the classification ghzal , classdical high pitch tana . the classification is orthodox. thee music of kishore and rdb, salil choudhary ewas highly unorthodox and for classes . but kishore had to compromise for masses. he did with KA, bappi lahiri! also mere naina sawan bhado and :”khilate hai gul yaha” kishore excels his kooo is more efective. have people listened the electric taan speciality of kishorerendered in ” aankhome hamne aapke sapane saye hai” duet with lata for khayyam and also epeated in the solo ” jab bhi koi kangana chamke payal kanak jaaye ” with RDB. here is an electrifying ttan by kishore not used by rafi/lata/asha/ yesudas/ spb a great musical command which even trained singers have not accomplishes. ” in mere naina sawan bhado again kishore is supperior to lata . lata was not at her best in this going by her past songs of this variety. again this variety of haunting is sung only by kishore and lata only. rafi has no song in this category.
i found kishore better in duets with “rafi more tadafdar!
March 6th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Rafi was a great singer - there is no question about it. But I don’t know why Kishore is the most popular playback singer till today. A singer like KK is born once in 1000 years. It is ridiculus when someone compare this great man with today’s singer like Sonu Nigam.
February 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Hey,all of you out there, who place Rafi second to Kishore kumar, listen to how Kishore kumar himself rated Rafi once. That was when the Kishore kumar-RD Burman-Rajesh Khanna trio produced hit numbers durint the 70s. Outside the Shanmugananda hall in Bombay, as Kishor kumar came out, his fans shouted; ‘Aakhir aap ne Rafi ki chutti kar diya, . Kishore saab immediately chided the fan, saying that ‘Moork, while I can sing a tune only in one way,Rafisaab can sing it in many tunes!”
Anybody having doubt about Rafi’s genius, listen to his countless number of songs, not once , manytimes, and then compare him to any other singer, Kishore or any other. You know what the great Naushad saab had to sayabout Rafi.? ’sadiyon thak badalom mein unki awaz gunjegi’ You know what great Manadey saab told about Rafi saab- “an unparalleled singer.” You know what great Yesudas told about Rafi? ” I always consssidered Rafi as my guru- one who greatly inspired my voice and singing” You know what great Balasubramanyan told ?” Singers may come and go. But there will be only one Rafi”.What more youall want. Before you all post your comments, listen, study and research Rafi’s songs and compare hom to others. Who has the range, melody, pathos all combined into one voice as in the case of the great Rafi. So, for heaven’s sake ,please stp this rubbish.
Talking about awards, seeing the how the present day artists and other celebrities get all awards, my heart really goes out for this great artist, who was not given the recognition he deserved , while he lived. Imagine how the Hindi film play back industry , would have been without Rafi’s songs!
lastly, god forgive you all out there, who did not still undersand Md.Rafi and denied him his due place in Indian film industry. I am a 53 now and I have been listening his songs since my child hood. That is , I have ben brought up hearing his songs over the last 40 years or so!
Let me affirm, Muhd. Rafi is the emperor of all singers of all times! He is truly immortal!
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:49 am
Bikash..please listened to Rafi from the the 1960 to 1970 and than compare with Kishore …film such as Dostana ,Kranti and Amar Arkbar Anthony where both of them sang together…I am Lifelong Kishore fan but had to admit Rafi was a great singer over very long period…