One of my earliest memories is watching Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar sing Achha toh hum chalte hai (Aan Milo Sajna, 1970) at the Filmfare awards. I was absolutely mesmerised.
Another memory is going with my aunt Jaya Chakravarthy for a concert where Kishore da was doing the Jai Govindam song (Aansoo Aur Muskan, 1970), flailing his arms and legs with some funny words like income taxam… a hilarious song. It was an absolute hoot and the audience was laughing. And then in a trice the lights dimmed, there was a lady called Biju on the piano who played the notes and Kishore da walked in through the audience singing in soft notes Dukhi man mere (Funtoosh, 1956). It was just magical.
I had not started professional singing and once again my aunt Jaya Chakravarthy was visiting him at his house. She asked me to accompany her and take his blessings. We had a hearty meal of Bengali dishes like luchi, alu dom etc. Then my aunt told Kishore da that I was a budding singer and he asked me to sing two lines. I was too flabbergasted. I was always shy and short of courage. Finally, I mustered up my wits and said I would sing two lines from his song – Mere naseeb mein ae dost (Do Raaste, 1969). After I finished singing he said, “This particular note is a Komal sur, you have not noted it carefully. That was one of my life’s biggest learnings, to “listen” to the nuances of the songs sung by Lata ji or Kishore da before I attempted it.
I remember those days I was a dubbing artiste for Laxmikant Pyarelal. Which means I would sing the song and finally Lata ji or Asha ji would dub for it. I did a lot of that those days. So I was singing for Anu Malik and somehow, I sensed this would also be dubbed and I didn’t want to be only known as a dubbing artiste. We rehearsed the song and went for take. Kishore da took one look at my face and said, “If you want to leave now, leave, now is the chance.” I left the studios after explaining to Anu Malik that he must excuse me for not being able to sing a dubbing song. Imagine Kishore da sensed my discomfort, how sensitive he was.
My first duet for him must have been Log jal gaye jaane kya for Raaste Pyar Ke (1982). We have sung about 10 duets together. I remember the Mr India (1987) duet Karte hai hum pyaar. Kishore da came around 1.30 pm, Pyarelal ji was rehearsing the musicians and us. By 5.30 pm we were ready for take. During this time Kishore da told us about his life and his times, his struggle period, something BR Chopra had said etc. I was giggling a lot, since I couldn’t laugh too loudly in front of a senior who was regaling us with his practical jokes. As a result my throat was slightly affected and there was a kind of hoarseness. So when we went for the final take Kishore da said, “Whatever you do, you have to remember singing is your ultimate goal.” That was another lesson learnt that whatever fun and games you had, you cannot compromise on your music.
Asha ji, Lata ji and he were fast friends. Once I was recording with him and he asked me if I was a number 8. So I said I was a number 7. So he replied, “That’s good because Asha is no 8.” Later I heard from someone in a studio that they had a small tiff or fall out. Of course, they quickly patched up but in the interim they weren’t talking and I got to do 2-3 duets with him.
My friend singer Suresh Wadkar told me once that Kishore da would drop in at the Pandit Jiyalal Vasant institute and observe Wadkar’s mentor Vasant ji teach the children. Kishore da would spend 2-3 hours just observing the children learning classical music.
He was full of practical jokes, I recall another Anu Malik recording where the violinist was missing. And a violinist is very integral to the recording because they take down all the notations from the music director. Often when I have got stuck I would turn to the violinist, and he would tell me the notations. So in this case, at the Anu Malik recording, Kishore da kept asking tongue firmly in cheek, “Kahan hai mera violinist.”
I used to do a lot of stage shows with Manna da (Dey). I consider him a mentor of sorts. Even Manna da used to say if he had a voice quality like Kishore da or Rafi he would have ruled playback singing. Manna da said during the rehearsals for Ek chatur naar for Padosan (1968), Kishore da was a bit muted and Manna da was a pro with the classical portions. But on the final take which happened a day or two later, Kishore da stunned Manna da with his vocal prowess. Manna da didn’t know what in the name of god had Kishore da mastered over a span of two days. Also look at the greatness of Manna da who so sportingly and lovingly acknowledged Kishore da’s genius.
Kishore da wasn’t just a singer. He was an era, an institution of magical music memories.
