10 Things you didn?t know about Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar was not only a famous singer but also an all-rounder when it came to the Bollywood industry, having had a hand in acting, directing and scriptwriting. Photograph:( Others )
Known as a legendary musician in Bollywood, India's tinseltown, Kishore Kumar had a successful and long career spanning decades. A self-taught singer and director, actor, scriptwriter, lyricist, he had a mass fan following in the country.
On Kishore Kumar's 87th birth anniversay on Thursday, August 4, 2016, WION brings you little known facts about his life:
- ?He was married four times - did he set these celebrity marriage trends?
- His father was a lawyer, his mother came from a wealthy family - point is, he was loaded as a child
- His first film was Shikari (1946) and sang for the first time for Ziddi (1948) - he got more offers early on, but was like ‘eh’ and went on to do other things
- A multilingual, he could sing in as many as 10 Indian languages - almost half of India’s official languages, which are 22.
- After the MP government gave him the “Lata Mangeshkar Award” and they named an award after him, “Kishore Kumar Award” started.
- When he didn’t endorse Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s “20-point programme” he was banned on All India Radio for two years.
- In the song ‘?ake seedhi lage dil pe’ from the movie Half Ticket, he sang both the male and female playback versions - quite a feat singing a duet simultaneously.
- He died of a heart attack on his brother’s 67th birthday, aged 58 himself.
- A loner, he preferred talking to the trees in his garden and complained of having no friends- do they say success makes one lonely?
- Having a ‘no money, no work principle’, once when he was paid half the sum, he appeared on the film set with makeup on one side of his face. Call him money-minded, but that was Kishore style.