Rafi, Kishore and Mukesh formed the trinity of Hindi film music. Among them, Kishore was perhaps the most talented and versatile. He could sing, dance, act, compose music and write poetry and was exceptional at it all.
Born on 4 August 1929, Kishoreda was a multifaceted genius with a soul stirring voice which could capture the hearts of the young and the old alike. As a small school going child, he was my favorite singer and still is. Today happens to be the legendary singer’s 82nd birth Anniversary and on Social networking sites like ‘Facebook’, it was nice to see so many youngsters remember the brilliance of this versatile genius by recalling his songs. Some even replaced their profile pictures with his as a glowing tribute. Although this versatile singer lives no more, his voice lingers in our hearts and will continue to do so for many more generations to follow. As my tribute to the legend, I recall 10 solo songs of his which happen to be my favorites. 1. “Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi Yoonhi nahin dil lubhaata koi” In the Don Bosco’s where I studied; once a month, the whole school would be shown a Hindi movie in the School’s Oratory section; on a big screen. All the children would anxiously wait for this moment to happen. Although I can hardly recollect names of the movies shown in those days, this movie, “Aa Gale Lag Jaa” - and this particular song - has remained etched in my mind. Brilliantly sung by Kishore. 2. “Ek Ajnabi Hasina se Yun mulaaqat ho gayi Phir kya Hua yeh na poochho kuch aisi baat ho gayi” Kishore was best known as the voice of Rajesh Khanna. Mere Sapnon Ki Raani shot Kishore to fame but I prefer this song to that one. This one is a gem composed by another great genius, R.D. Burman. 3. “Tum bin jaaun kahaan, ke duniya mein aake kuch na phir chaaha kabhi tumko chaahake, tum bin …” Rafi sang another version of this song. Even today, the debate rages on in various music forums as to who sung it better. Hariharan too sang a version in a more recent movie but by no means matching the brilliance of the two legendary singers. Rafi was brilliant as he always is. Kishore improvised with his yodeling. 4. “Chhookar mere man ko kiya tuney kya ishara Badla yeh mausam lagey pyaara Jag Saara….” Amitabh was a superstar and everybody’s favorite actor. Needless to say, he was mine too. Kishore sang many hit songs for Amitabh. This one is my favourite from them all. With music composed by Rajesh Roshan from the movie Yaarana, Kishore impresses in this score with his soft rendition. 5. “O saathii re, tere binaa bhii kyaa jiinaa Tere binaa bhii kyaa jiinaa” Ok, maybe I’m have to do a rethink. This song may be a trifle better than the last one. Kishore is renowned for his sad numbers. This one, from “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar” has to rank as one of his best. He was nominated for the ‘Filmfare’ for this track, but lost out to “Khaika Paan Bana Raswala”, another song sung by himself, from the movie ‘Don’. 6. “Aanewala Pal jaanewala hai Ho sake to Is mein Zindagi bitaado Pal jo yeh jaanewala hai” Kishore had the uncanny ability to make even ordinary songs look great. But this one is no ordinary track. From the movie ‘Golmaal’, Kishore added his magical touch to this song which one can hear over and over again, and yet never feel bored of it. The same can perhaps be said about the movie too. 7. “Chehra hai ya chand khila hai Zulf ghaneri shaam hai kya Saagar jaisi aankhon vaali Ye to bataa tera naam hai kya” All songs from the movie ‘Saagar’ were brilliant. One of my favourite S P Balasubramanium number, “Sach mere yaar hai” is also from this movie. But the above track, picturised on Rishi Kapoor and the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, has to be the best of them all. 8. “Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thi, Yeh shaam bhi ajeeb hai Woh kal bhi paas paas thi woh Aaj bhi kareeb hai” Hemant Kumar, a good singer himself, composed the music for this movie ‘Khamoshi’. This movie had another brilliant song, “Tum pukar lo.. tumhaara intezaar hai” which Hemant sang himself but he picked up Kishore for the above gem. A soulful rendition. 9. “Chalte Chalte Mere yeh geet yaad rakhna Kabhi alvida na kehna Kabhi alvida Na Kehna” The King of Disco, Bappi Lahiri, has given us this brilliant composition. A beautiful parting score, every second party has to end with this song. And Kishore’s beautiful rendition has turned this song into a classic. 10. “Main Hoon Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhumroo Phakkad Ghunghroo Banke Ghumu Main Yeh Pyaar Ka Geet Sunata Chala…..” Kishore Kumar was the King of yodeling. This will undoubtedly be his best yodeling song. The versatile genius acted in this movie, composed the music, wrote the lyrics and sung the song. A true genius. He may no loner be with us today, but his voice lives on. Here’s wishing a ‘Happy 82nd Anniversary’ to the Legendary ‘Singer of the Millennium’ and to his millions of fans worldwide! Cheers, Sandeep Heble