When His Voice Sounded Different

The voice of Kishore Kumar had a distinguishing quality. I believe there is hardly anyone who can disagree with me when I reveal what that quality was. His voice bore the constitution of a hero - that eternal, romantic and evergreen hero. In the world of Indian cinema, where 'playback singing' is so vital to a film, the name of Kishore Kumar twinkles forever with everlasting brightness.

Playback singing is an open and wide area of art. As a matter of fact, today, there is hardly a film industry other than the Indian film industry, where one can find examples of this distinguished art. Kishore Kumar, being one of the leading male playback singers for over four decades, has done a vast range of work that has been of outstanding quality. In today's edition, we talk about and listen to some of his offbeat numbers. These can be called 'offbeat' because we can find certain departures from the norm; we can find voice modulation and some other aspects of his craft. These songs together show us what sort of an incredible talent he was.

Song #1: Aake Seedhi Lagi 

Film: Half Ticket

Year: 1962

Music: Salil Chaudhury

Lyrics: Shailendra

This song has all sorts of irregularities one can ever think of! The set of irregularities are the following - a villain dancing and singing, a hero dressed as a woman, the woman singing and dancing, and above all, the playback singer singing in both male and female voice. Salil Chaudhury and Kishore Kumar had been a rare combination, but whenever they had worked together, they produced terrific results. To the listeners, the song is a delight to listen to. The genius is in full form – the voice flows from the higher notes on a certain pitch needed for creating the female voice to a similar set of notes on a more masculine pitch. This happens effortlessly and there is no strain put on the ears of the listener. Incredible it is!

Link : Half Ticket Song

Song #2: Shing nei tobu naam tar shingho

Film: Lukochuri (Bengali)

Year: 1958

Music: Hemanta Mukherjee (Hemant Kumar)

Lyrics: Gouriproshonno Majumdar

A hilarious song where Kishore Kumar gives his all! He is in comedy mood and he hardly misses an opportunity to entertain us. It is an inspired tune but he makes it his own. All the right notes are touched by his voice and all the funny words are delivered in a comical way. He makes this unusual song written by a genius, Gouriproshonno Majumdar, a cult Bengali song. As far as I know, this song is one of the earliest examples of a complete rap song in Indian cinema. It is still very popular among listeners. The energy and thrust that Kishore Kumar give to this song, especially in the last few gibberish words, are unparalleled.

Link : Song from Lukochuri

Song #3: Bidhir bandhon kaatbe tumi

Film: Ghare Baire (Bengali)

Year: 1984

Music & Lyrics: Rabindranath Tagore

Ghare Baire, or The Home and the World, is a much-appreciated Tagore novel that the great filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, made a film on. The novel – with its characters, twists and turns, dialogues and climax – is extremely complicated. Ray made the film with an aim in mind – he wanted to simplify several of those complications and offer a certain easy feel to the story. Kishore Kumar was his best choice and they had worked together earlier in Charulata. The straight voice is excellently used by Ray. The actor and the playback singer work in unison, take this Tagore song to an unthinkable height, and leave the audience – which is both the listener and the viewer – spellbound. What's more? The entire song is recorded with no accompanying instrument. It works! It makes sure that the bass and tinge of Kishore Kumar's voice resonate through the words and emotions of Sandeep, the character played by Soumitra Chatterjee, the legendary actor.

Link : Bidhir Bandhon Katbe Tumi.....

Song #4: Ek Roop Kai Naam

Film: Swami Dada

Year: 1982

Music: R.D.Burman

Lyrics: Anjaan

What happens when R.D.Burman composes a Bhajan? What happens when Kishore Kumar gets a chance to sing a Bhajan? The answers to these two questions lie in our next song. A beautiful tune, a sweet melody, and a string of honest words voiced so honestly by Kishore Kumar. The film was a decent one directed by Dev Anand, with a nice story and a thrilling plot. The songs were marvelous. This song just grows and grows in you like an infectious germ and spreads all over so that it becomes impossible to forget it – long after it has ended.

Link : Kishore Kumar singing a Bhajan

Song #5: Priye praneshwari

Film: Hum Tum Aur Woh

Year: 1971

Music: Kalyanji-Anandji

Lyrics: Verma Malik

With pronunciation being a key to this song, Kishore Kumar joyfully plays through the notes and delivers a unique gem. Kalyanji-Anandji – one of the most versatile composers of those times – creates a superb comical feel through this song. A young Vinod Khanna looks very animated and cute on the screen. At times, one fails to determine whether it is really the actor singing or it is the playback singer in action. The nuances of playback singing, as I stated at the start, is almost methodically explained through this song. The right pauses, the quick modulations, the sudden acts are all captured through his gifted voice.

Link : Kishore Kumar at his comical best!

The voice is no more with us. It cannot produce newer gems even if we long for it. But then, whatever has been left is enough to entertain us for several more decades.