An artist like him is hard to find. Though he excelled at singing, he was a pretty good actor, director and lyricist too. He breathed life into Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand's screen presence, and perhaps brought freshness to SD Burman and RD Burman's compositions, among others. His pairing with future wife Madhubala in Jhumroo and Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi was phenomenal, and a musical bonanza as well. Paanch rupiah baarah aana is one of the funniest duets in Hindi cinema, for instance.
His yodelling was unique to Indian music, and songs like Nakhrewaali, Main hun Jhum jhum jhum jhumroo, Tum bin jaaon kahan, Chala jaata hoon kisi ki dhun mein, and Zindagi ek safar sai suhana were embellished by it. His sober songs with Lata in Aandhi are still difficult to forget, as are his sombre ones in Safar- Zindagi ka safar, hai ye kaisa safar, and Jeevan se bhari teri aankhen-are among his greatest.
He flowered under RD Burman's direction, but his early hits are with SD- Jewel Thief, Aradhana, Prem Pujari (Phoolon ke rang se, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye) and Sharmeelee, for instance. With RD, Kati Patang, Jawani Diwani, Yaadon Ki Baaraat and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin were a tour de force in Indian music history. His saucy duets with Asha Bhosle (Neend chura ke raton mein) are many, and RD composed many of these.
O Hansini, meri hansini (Zehreela Insaan), and Aise na mujhe tum dekho (Darling Darling) are silky soft numbers, as is Chalte chalte, mere yeh geet, that anthem song of farewell parties.
I am not so fond of his songs for Amitabh but Meet na mila re man ka (SD Burman), Dekha na hai re socha na (Bombay to Goa) and Pag ghungroo baandh Meera nachi thi (Bappi Lahiri, in Namak Halaal) are standout numbers. Maybe the Don and Muqaddar ka Sikandar songs too.
Out of his early songs, Mana Janab ne Pukara Nahin, Hum hain raahi pyaar ke, Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhaani, Ina Mina Dika, and Nakhrewaali, are still memorable. Bekaraar dil, tu gaayeja, khushiyon se bhare wo taraane is a duet with Sulakshana Pandit, I think, and a lovely song. Ajnabi, tum jaane pehchaane se lagte ho (Hum Sab Ustad Hain) and Mere mehboob qayamat hogi (Mr. X in Bombay) were some of my early favorites.
Anamika, Buddha Mil Gaya (Raatkali ek khwaab mein aayi), Rampur Ka Lakshman (Gum hai kisi ke pyaar mein), Uljhan (Apne jeevan ki uljhan), Jungle Mein Mangal (Tum kitni khoobsoorat ho), Amar Prem (all his songs), Namak Haraam, Blackmail (Pal, pal dil ke paas), Mehbooba, Kudrat, Prem Nagar (Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chhodega), Lal Patthar (Geet gaata hoon main), Dream Girl (Title Song), Warrant (Ruk, ruk, ruk), Des Pardes (Nazraana bheja kisine pyaar ka, Tu pee aur jee), Heera Panna, Joshila (Kiska rasta dekhen, ai dil ai saudaai), Parichay (Musafir hoon yaaron, na ghar hai na thikaana), Ghar (Phir wahi, raat hai,..) are some other films in which his songs are remembered. He also sang a funny bhajan style song, which had takeoffs on film stars, that goes, Jai Govindam jai gopalam....and has a line 'peeche pad gaya income taxum', a tribute to the taxman who was reportedly chasing him!
My all time favorites include all these and more. Dil aaj shaayar hai gham aaj naghma hai..is one, and for its great lyrics too. I am listening to a special in his honour right now, and it has reminded me of two more classics- Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda, barbadi ki taraf aisa moda from Amanush, and Zindagi ke safar mein jo guzar jaate hain makaam, woh phir nahi aate. In this case, they (woh makaam) are revisited through his songs. I once watched him live at Brabourne Stadium in 1985 or so, and his stage presence was also electric. A true musical genius.
His yodelling was unique to Indian music, and songs like Nakhrewaali, Main hun Jhum jhum jhum jhumroo, Tum bin jaaon kahan, Chala jaata hoon kisi ki dhun mein, and Zindagi ek safar sai suhana were embellished by it. His sober songs with Lata in Aandhi are still difficult to forget, as are his sombre ones in Safar- Zindagi ka safar, hai ye kaisa safar, and Jeevan se bhari teri aankhen-are among his greatest.
He flowered under RD Burman's direction, but his early hits are with SD- Jewel Thief, Aradhana, Prem Pujari (Phoolon ke rang se, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye) and Sharmeelee, for instance. With RD, Kati Patang, Jawani Diwani, Yaadon Ki Baaraat and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin were a tour de force in Indian music history. His saucy duets with Asha Bhosle (Neend chura ke raton mein) are many, and RD composed many of these.
O Hansini, meri hansini (Zehreela Insaan), and Aise na mujhe tum dekho (Darling Darling) are silky soft numbers, as is Chalte chalte, mere yeh geet, that anthem song of farewell parties.
I am not so fond of his songs for Amitabh but Meet na mila re man ka (SD Burman), Dekha na hai re socha na (Bombay to Goa) and Pag ghungroo baandh Meera nachi thi (Bappi Lahiri, in Namak Halaal) are standout numbers. Maybe the Don and Muqaddar ka Sikandar songs too.
Out of his early songs, Mana Janab ne Pukara Nahin, Hum hain raahi pyaar ke, Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhaani, Ina Mina Dika, and Nakhrewaali, are still memorable. Bekaraar dil, tu gaayeja, khushiyon se bhare wo taraane is a duet with Sulakshana Pandit, I think, and a lovely song. Ajnabi, tum jaane pehchaane se lagte ho (Hum Sab Ustad Hain) and Mere mehboob qayamat hogi (Mr. X in Bombay) were some of my early favorites.
Anamika, Buddha Mil Gaya (Raatkali ek khwaab mein aayi), Rampur Ka Lakshman (Gum hai kisi ke pyaar mein), Uljhan (Apne jeevan ki uljhan), Jungle Mein Mangal (Tum kitni khoobsoorat ho), Amar Prem (all his songs), Namak Haraam, Blackmail (Pal, pal dil ke paas), Mehbooba, Kudrat, Prem Nagar (Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chhodega), Lal Patthar (Geet gaata hoon main), Dream Girl (Title Song), Warrant (Ruk, ruk, ruk), Des Pardes (Nazraana bheja kisine pyaar ka, Tu pee aur jee), Heera Panna, Joshila (Kiska rasta dekhen, ai dil ai saudaai), Parichay (Musafir hoon yaaron, na ghar hai na thikaana), Ghar (Phir wahi, raat hai,..) are some other films in which his songs are remembered. He also sang a funny bhajan style song, which had takeoffs on film stars, that goes, Jai Govindam jai gopalam....and has a line 'peeche pad gaya income taxum', a tribute to the taxman who was reportedly chasing him!
My all time favorites include all these and more. Dil aaj shaayar hai gham aaj naghma hai..is one, and for its great lyrics too. I am listening to a special in his honour right now, and it has reminded me of two more classics- Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda, barbadi ki taraf aisa moda from Amanush, and Zindagi ke safar mein jo guzar jaate hain makaam, woh phir nahi aate. In this case, they (woh makaam) are revisited through his songs. I once watched him live at Brabourne Stadium in 1985 or so, and his stage presence was also electric. A true musical genius.
4 comments:
Indeed a genius - he also figured out how to get married four times and be happy I suppose!
I did not know he was born a Ganguly.
Dost, great bibiography and commentary on Kishoreda's songs.
Those were the days when lyrics and sur ka sangam tha. These days, I think sur and taal have advanced so there are great songs but the lyrics are slightly lagging behind.
He was an amazing performer and maybe I should write separately on the performance that I had the privilege of watching
Yes, he was a Ganguly but from Khandwa, M.P.
Tathagata, indeed you should write about it. I agree on the lyrics bit.
Welcome, 'City'.
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