Artist Bio: Kishore Kumar

Birth Name: Abhas Kumar Kunjilal Ganguly Nickname: Kishore Da
Date of Birth: August 4, 1929
Date of Death: October 13, 1987
Place of Birth: Khandva, Madhya Pradesh, India
Father’s Name: Kunjilal
Mother’s name: Gouri Devi
Brother’s Name: Ashok kumar and Anoop Kumar.
Spouse: Had four marriages, last was Leena Chandravarkar
Profession: Singer

Kishore Kumar was born in Madhya Pradesh in a reputed family. His father was a lawyer by profession and his mother also belonged to a rich family. Ashok kumar preferred to become an actor whereas his brother Kishore, opted to mimic Kundan Lal Saigal. His brother Anoop discovered the strong singing talent in Kishore Kumar and encouraged him to sing in his own style and voice. Kishore mused over his brother’s advice to sing. He received his first singing break in Bollywood movies by S.D Burman. When he passed away, his son Rahul also supported Kishore and preferred him to sing for his movies. Kishore Kumar’s real thrust for singing was satisfied when he got some big breaks. He was quite particular about his songs and had given songs like ‘Aur Peechey Pad Gaya Income Taxum, Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam’. It was dedicated especially to the Income Tax authorities in which he made fun of them. He always craved to perform mad-cap comedies and was a lively spirit always in a search of something exciting. Kishore used to talk to trees and to a surprise of everyone he put a sign board of ‘Mental Hospital’ outside his home. Kishore Kumar’s career faced many controversies and he was once banned on Government-controlled media which included Vividh Bharti and All India Radio. His duets were censored and he faced excessive criticism from the authorities. Kishore was also in news for his dispute with Amitabh Bachhan in late 1980’s when he refused to voice for him and later Amitabh rejected the proposal to act in the movie produced by him. In his personal life he got married four times. He was the luckiest to marry some of the prettiest bollywood actresses of that time. His first engagement was with Ruma Guha in the year 1951 but got divorced after 7 years of his marriage. In 1961, he married Madhubala who died after five years of marriage. Then again he married to Yogeeta Bali in the year 1976 and got divorced in 1978. Finally he married Leena Chandrawarkar in the year 1980. Unfortunately, Kishore died from a massive heart attack in the year 1987. Kishore has always been honored and remembered at various award ceremonies and other special occasions.