Kishore Kumar Memorial in Khandwa

 A bust of the singer..

 The sign on the road in Hindi..(below).
On his birth and death anniversaries each year, a commemorative event is hosted by the M.P. government here.

One of my favourite singers is Kishore Kumar. I have been a fan since I first heard him sing the songs of Aradhana and Kati Patang, and of course countless other films before and after these. This blog is named after a line from his Yeh shaam mastaani.. so it was a great pleasure to visit his Memorial at  Khandwa recently, in the company of my brother and a long-time friend Anil. These are some pics from there- some more follow.

 SD Burman, who gave him his style, and unique songs to sing- Dil aaj shaayar hai, and Phoolon ke rang se are just two examples. (above left)..
Below, a memorable role in Padosan, left, and with Rajesh Khanna on the right. Middle, with Lata Mangeshkar..again, many memorable songs..I particularly like the Aandhi duets.

 RD Burman, with whom he had many of his hits, and Mohammed Rafi, an equally talented contemporary..below, right to left.

Something I am pretty kicked about accomplishing!

Kishore Kumar- 2

These are what I call the mellow duets sung by Kishore Kumar.

Yeh raatein yeh mausam nadi ka kinara yeh chanchal hawa

Jadugar tere naina, dil jayega bachke kahan, ruk jaoon...

Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa toh nahin..

Is mod pe jaate hain, kuch sust kadam rakhke, kuch tez kadam daale..

Tujh sang preet lagayi sajna,...

Likha hai teri aankhon mein kiska afsana...

Yeh duniyawale poochenge, mulaqat hui kya baat hui, yeh baat kisise na kehna....

Beqaraar dil, tu gaye ja khushiyon se bhare woh tarane, jinhe sunke duniya jhoom uthe ...

Shokhiyon mein ghola jaye phholon ka shabab, usme phir milyi jaye thodi si sharaab...

Aap ki aankhon mein kuch mehke hue khwab hain, aap se bhi khubsoorat aapke andaz hain..

Dil Machal Raha Hai

Machal, or machalna of the dil, maybe akin to fluttering of the heart. A word used well in some Hindi film songs, as illustrated by-

Dil machal raha hai, rang badal raha hai..

Machalti hui, hawa mein chham chham hamare sung sung chali ganga ki lehren..

'Machle hue jazbaat, baat hasin hone do', from the middle of a lovely song, Pyaar manga hai tumhise, na inkaar karo..one of Kishore Kumar's best romantic numbers from a vague movie called College Girl. Tuned by Bappi Lahiri. Surprised?

Dheere dheere machal, ai dil-e beqaraar, kio aata hai...after a lot of research, I found that this gem of a song is shot on Surekha and Tarun Bose.(in Anupama)...both look great in this, but I never saw any of them anywhere again, other than this song. Maybe they were Bengali actors, and didn't act in many Hindi films. One of Lata Mangeshkar's best solos, tuned by Jaidev. Also, a female piano song.