Kishore Kumar’s 95th Birth Anniversary: 10 Landmark Songs to Celebrate

A total of 8.3 million fans stream Kishore Kumar songs regularly, just on Spotify. Then there are several other streaming services, hundreds of radio channels, YouTube channels, T.V. channels and of course the millions of Saregama Carvaan pre-recorded music players sold across the country over the last decade, which have become a staple of Indian middle class homes, where nostalgia music thrives than anywhere else, and where Kishore is among the favorites.  

Well, one would argue that the likes of Arijit Singh has a bigger fan following, and probably he does, among the youth. But then Kishore breathed his last nearly 40 years ago and is not around to do live shows anymore.

Kishore’s songs embrace us during sadness, lift us during happy moments and give us tunes to hum to our beloved, plus the ones make you want to dance, like “Apni To Jaise Taise.”  It was not surprising that Lata Mangeshkar once termed him the ‘greatest playback singer’ of the Hindi film industry. Mangeshkar is someone who always chose her words carefully and notice that she called him the greatest playback singer and not the greatest singer.

The reason was obvious. He wasn’t classically trained and so it would have been ridiculous to compare him to singers outside of Hindi films. Within Hindi films itself, Kishore would have struggled to render a song like Naushad’s masterful Bhairavi-based composition “Tu Ganga Ki Mauj.” He would not have been able to do a song like “Madhuban Mein Radhika Nache Re” with the felicity of a classically-trained Mohammed Rafi.

But Mangeshkar called him the greatest playback singer because when he sings “Jane Kya Sochkar,” the air in the room stills itself and the listener broods over the words that his brilliantly emotive voice renders with an uncanny sense of rhythm.

Kishore was a master at turning uncomplicated melodies like “Woh Shaam Kucch Ajeeb Thi” and “Diwana Leke Aaya Hai” into memorable tracks that are still being played every day across the world. You can feel the emotions he conjures for the actors on screen with emphasis on the right words in the poetry of the songs, and adorning the notes in a manner of some of our greatest classically trained singer would have. No one else can paint the vivid poetry of Gulzar the way Kishore does in “Woh Shaam Kucch Ajeeb Thi,” “Jane Kya Sochkar” or “Phir Wohi Raat Hai Khwaab Ki.”

It is not surprising then that he was shoulder to shoulder with the best of his contemporaries,   like Rafi, Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and others, men and women of the greatest generation of Hindi film singers.

Here are 10 landmark songs to remember him.

1. “Marne Ki Duaen Kyon Mangoon” from Ziddi (1948)

Ziddi was the fifth most successful film at the box office in 1948. It marked the debut of Kishore Kumar. The music was by the very talented Khemchand Prakash who gave Kishore his first break and just a year later, gave Lata Mangeshkar the legendary hit “Aayega Aanewala” in Mahal. Sadly, he passed away two months before Mahal was released, at the young age of 42, never seeing the success of these two singers that he helped launch. Kishore was a fan of K.L. Saigal and sang his first song in the style of the then-superhero who also passed away in 1948. This movie had more milestones – it brought Kishore Kumar and Dev Anand together for the first time and Kishore became the flag bearer in the recording studio of Navketan films. This movie also featured the first duet of Lata and Kishore, “Ye Kaun Aaya Re.”

2. “Mere Labon Pe Chhipe” from Baazi (1951)

This is probably Kishore Kumar’s first song for Navketan films. Picturized on Dev Anand sitting astride a donkey, a fun song, it reveals Kishore breaking out of the old style and mould of playback singing and giving glimpses of what is to come as the yodeling and maverick genius. 

3. “Aake Seedhi Lagi” from Half Ticket (1962)

Salil Chowdhury wanted to record the song “Aake Seedhi Lagi” as a duet with Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. Since Lata was traveling and there was no scope to hold the recording, Kishore suggested he could do both the male and female voice and the maverick genius went on to sing a duet just by himself. I am not sure if anyone in Indian film history had done that before.

4. “Roop Tera Mastana” from Aradhana (1969)

It’s nearly 55 years since this Aradhana hit the screens and burned with its passionate “Roop Tera Mastana.” Kishore literally whispers the lyrics and brings sensuality like never before. The song was shot in one take since the space was rented out and director Shakti Samanta didn’t have time. The actors didn’t have space to move around and all the negatives helped make this song into something magical, which none of the people present there had any clue about. Since S.D. Burman was ill, his son and assistant R.D. Burman took the liberty of changing the originally intended Bhatiyali composition into a jazzy, sensuous number for all time to come. It also landed Kishore his first Filmfare Award, but more importantly, it took the crown from the then-ruling vocal superstar Mohammed Rafi and firmly placed it on Kishore’s head. 

5. “Dil Aaj Shayar Hai” from The Great Gambler (1971)

The ghazal has always been a test of skill for playback singers. The most nuanced and intricate compositions have often been ghazals in movies. From ghazal king Talat Mahmood to Rafi to Lata Mangeshkar to Asha Bhosle, they have all sung many ghazals. Kishore doesn’t have too many to show and with Rafi around, he wasn’t the first choice for a ghazal anyway. Yet S.D. Burman decided to get him to sing “Dil Aaj Shayar Hai,” picturized on Dev Anand. Kishore sings the ghazal in a very modern style and comes out gold yet again. 

6. “Musafir Hoon Yaron” from Parichay (1972)

The very successful duo of Gulzar and R.D. Burman began with this song. Throw in Kishor’s voice and the song is something to cherish. Songs like “Phir Wohi Raat Hai Khwaab Ki” from Ghar, “Raah Pe Rehte Hain” from Namkeen, the duets of Aandhi were all testament to the magic these three brought to the recording studio with their exceptional talent. 

7. “Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon” from Mehbooba (1976)

R.D. Burman has often said that Kishore heard the Raag Shivaranjani-based composition and asked R.D. to record Lata Mangeshkar first and then did his version of the track. While Lata’s version is good, Kishore is magical in this song. The music by R.D. also is fabulous in complimenting Kishore’s vocalization. Kishore emotes brilliantly through the lower notes all the way to the higher octave. This song silenced many critics of Kishore that he couldn’t handle classical-based numbers and with a number that Lata Mangeshkar has also rendered. 

8. “Salame Ishq” from Muqaddar ka Sikandar (1978)

The Kalyanji-Anandji composition was filmed on superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha but a standard mujra song turns on its head once Kishore starts singing. While the on-screen Amitabh stands up to vocalize, the quality of Kishore’s voice shines through this antara and the song became a rage. The film was the third highest-grosser after Sholay and Bobby. 

9. “Log Kehte Hai Main Sharaabi Hoon” from Sharaabi (1984)

Like the Kalyanji-Anandji composition in Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Kishore enters the song late with an antara which mesmerizes the listeners. Once again filmed on Amitabh Bachchan, a megastar by then, Kishore’s voice just cuts through and the lament and cry in his philosophical argument on behalf of his drinking habit moves you. The music of Sharaabi was by Bappi Lahiri which won him the Filmfare award and one for Kishore Kumar too for “Manzilein Apni Jagah.”

10. “Saagar Kinare Dil Yeh Pukare” from Saagar (1985)

The last Filmfare award won by Kishore Kumar was for this song in January 1987. He passed away in September of that year. Kishore was still in prime vocal condition in Saagar even though he wasn’t in the best of health. The song “Chehra Hai Ya Chaand Khila Hai” is also a classic song from this movie and is as youthful on Rishi Kapoor as Kishore sounded on him in Khel Khel Mein (1975) or in Karz (1980).