He was flamboyant and very much unlike his contemporaries. His on-screen persona reflected his childlike dynamism and his profound voice wove melodies magically. Kishore Kumar – an actor-singer exuberated energy and tremendous zest for life on-screen and went on to become the inspiration of millions.
Born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly in a wealthy and highly sophisticated family, little did anyone know that this young man will someday make it big in Hindi Cinema and croon his way into millions of hearts across all age groups and generations to come.
Kishore da kick-started his career in the field of acting, with ‘Shikari’ in 1946 and in 1948 the legendary singer sang a song for director Khemchand Prakash in a film.
He was hugely influenced by Kundan Lal Saigal’s singing style. But eventually, Kishore Da delivered songs that reflected his own style to the fullest. Thus was born one of Indian cinema’s most popular and admired playback singers.
Kishore Da and Rahul Dev Burman made a deadly combination in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of the sings picturised on Rajesh Khanna were sung by Kishore Da, who was the voice behind the super stardom of the ‘Anand’ star.
‘Maana Janaab Ne Pukara Nahin’, ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’, ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si’, ‘Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka’, ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’, ‘Karvatein Badalte rahe’, ‘Yahan Wahan Saare Jahan Mein’, ‘Zindagi Ke Safar Mein’ etc are some o the songs sung by Kishore Da.