Kishore Kumar Birth Anniversary: Kishore Kumar, the legendary singer and actor of Indian cinema, was an all-rounder artist. A person who was known for his outspoken style. He left behind a rich legacy of singing. This artist was never afraid of anyone throughout his life. He showed courage to say no even to the country’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, but this same artist was scared of one thing said by Lata Didi!
Kishore Kumar himself had said that he felt uncomfortable with one habit of Lata Mangeshkar and this habit was the discipline of Swar Kokila. Kishore Kumar himself had shared an anecdote. He had said that he was surprised when Lata agreed to do a stage show with him in London. He was thrilled, but I was worried about one thing – her discipline.
Kishore Kumar narrated the story of Lata Mangeshkar
Kishore Kumar said, ‘I never went on stage without rehearsal and I take things very casually. We had to sing five duet songs on stage. The problem arose when the time came to go on stage. We were not able to decide who would go first?’
Kishore Kumar further said, ‘I suggested that Lata sing first as she is my senior. But she did not do so. Instead she went on stage to introduce me. She praised me a lot, but also said, “I call him Da because he is older than me”. I am one month and 24 days older than him. After this we did three shows.
Lata and Kishore sang many unmatched songs. There was a different flow in the voices of both. Their bonding was good, perhaps this was the reason why Kishore Da gave his last interview to Lata Didi. Lata spoke to him as a reporter. In this, they talked on many issues. One of the interesting anecdotes was related to their first meeting.
Kishore Da had told how both of them travelled together in train and horse carriage. Then both of them reached the same place and that was Bombay Talkies. Lata kept thinking that Kishore Kumar was following her but after some time Khemchand Prakash revealed the truth. He did a formal introduction and after this both of them laughed a lot.
Kishore Da was as cheerful and humorous as he was firm on his ideals. There was a time (1982-87) when everyone used to line up behind Amitabh Bachchan. This great singer never left Rajesh Khanna’s side. He lent his voice in 91 of Kakaji’s films and sang more than 150 songs in Amitabh Bachchan’s films.
