News Analysis India

Tag: Kishore Kumar

  • When young singer thought Kishore Kumar was ‘following’ her to studio

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: In her book ‘Lata Mangeshkar: In Her Own Voice’, documentary maker and author Nasreen Munni Kabeer writes that the singing icon recalled with great amusement the first time she met Kishore Kumar on her way to the Bombay Talkies studio.

    Mangeshkar said she was working with Khemchand Prakash on 1949’s ‘Ziddi’ when she crossed paths with Kishore Kumar. Mangeshkar had taken the local train to Malad, a suburb in Mumbai, where Bombay Talkies was situated. Kishore Kumar’s elder brother and actor Ashok Kumar was the owner of Bombay Talkies.

    Kishore Kumar was also in the same compartment, seated close to Mangeshkar and also got down at the Malad station and was virtually walking behind her till she reached the studio. “I would take the train to Malad and one day Kishore da got on at the next stop. I thought he looked very familiar and wondered who he was. We both got off at Malad. Bombay Talkies studio was a long way from the station and that day I decided to take a taanga. And Kishore da hired one too,” Mangeshkar told Kabeer for the book.

    Mangeshkar thought Kishore Kumar was stalking her and complained to music composer Khemchand Prakash, the musician credited with discovering the singer, on reaching her destination. “We rode along and finally we both entered the studio. I thought to myself, ‘something strange is going on here. This fellow is following me’,” she recalled.

    “I asked Khemchand ji: ‘Uncle, who is this boy? He’s following me’,” Prakash cleared her confusion. “He laughed and said: ‘He’s Kishore. Ashok Kumar’s brother.’ That day we recorded our first duet ‘Ye Kaun Aya Re Karke Sola Singar’.” 

    Tryst with Urdu

    In 1947 when Lata Mangeshkar met Dilip Kumar for the first time, he expressed doubts over her pronunciation, prompting her to get Urdu lessons from a maulana.  “The remark that Yousuf Bhai made when he found out that I am a Maharashtrian is something that I cherish because it made me seek the perfection I then lacked in my Hindi and Urdu diction. He said very truthfully that singers who were not conversant with the Urdu invariably tripped in the pronunciation of words derived from the language,” she had said.

  • As COVID-19 cases fall, Kishore Kumar’s college to celebrate his birth anniversary

    By PTI
    INDORE: The college in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in which legendary singer-actor Kishore Kumar studied in the 1940s on Friday said it would celebrate his birth anniversary on August 4 as the coronavirus situation was now under control.

    The celebration at Christian College, a much-awaited annual affair, which sees new and old students regale the audience with songs and anecdotes of Kumar, could not be held last year due to the pandemic, said Principal Amit David.

    “This year, as COVID-19 cases have come down, we have decided to celebrate Kishore Kumar’s birth anniversary on August 4,” he told PTI.

    Kumar, who was born in Khandwa in 1929, studied in the college between 1946 and 1948, and stayed in a hostel in the campus, before following his elder brother Ashok Kumar to Mumbai to make his mark in tinsel town.

    By the time Kumar died on October 13, 1987, he was among the most famous film personalities the country had ever seen.

    The state on Friday recorded 11 COVID-19 cases that raised its tally of infections to 7,91,732, an official from the state health department said.

    The count of recoveries reached 7,81,048, while the toll stood at 10,512, as no fresh fatalities were reported, the official said, adding that the central state currently has 172 active cases.

    With the addition of 73,709 swab samples tested during the day, the total number of tests conducted in the state rose to 1,38,53,243, the official said.

    As per the official release, 2,68,58,028 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far, of which 18,571 were given on Friday.

    Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,91,732, new cases 11, death toll 10,512 (no change), recovered 7,81,048, active cases 172, number of tests so far 1,38,53,243.

  • Domestic help held for theft at Kishore Kumar’s bungalow

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A 24 year-old man working as a domestic help in the bungalow of legendary singer Kishore Kumar was arrested from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly stealing valuables, police said on Friday.

    Harnarayan Yadav was held from Banda in Uttar Pradesh, a Santa Cruz police station official said.

    “On Tuesday, the late Kishore Kumar’s grand daughter Vrinda Amit Ganguly lodged a complaint that items worth over Rs 2 lakh were missing. A probe zeroed in on Yadav,” he added.