His voice launched a thousand shapes… or maybe not that many. Kishore Kumar’s voice always added that extra zing to every leading man he sang for. Who can forget Dev Anand’s infectious swagger down the road of life as he warbled Yeh dil na hota bechara… Or the robust Sunil Dutt wooing the frail Saira Banu through the window of laughter, crooning Kehna hai kehna hai?
Interestingly, it was Kishore Kumar who sang this soulful track for Sunil Dutt both off and on screen. Being an actor helped Kishore-da vocalize the innermost emotions of a lyric to the optimum, so that the hero emerged on the screen not just miming the words but feeling the emotions behind the song.
It all added up beautifully. Who can forget Rajesh Khanna wooing Sharmila Tagore with Mere sapnon ki rani and Jeevan se bhari teri aankhein, and Asha Parekh with Yeh sham mastani?
Kishore Kumar’s voice and Rajesh Khanna’s screen persona were as inseparable as a lyric and a tune.
We couldn’t imagine one without the other. Nor could we think of any leading man crooning a specific Kishore Kumar number in any other voice… From Rakesh Roshan singing the heart-stopping Samaa hai suhana to Navin Nischol wooing and wowing Yogeeta Bali with Simti si sharmayee si (the latter is a rare Madan Mohan composition that Kishore Kumar got the opportunity to sing)… experience the entire spectrum of love pangs.
Kishore Kumar didn’t just sing the lyrics. He enacted the emotions through his voice. His penchant for acting and mimicry surfaces in unexpected ways on the soundtrack. When we hear him sing Bhanvare ki gunjan or Yeh naina yeh kajal, we aren’t listening to any ordinary love song. These are numbers that acquire their hue and shades through a voice that knew how to get spirits up, pulses soaring, and rhythms roaring even while crooning in the softest and gentlest tones.
Hear how magnificently Kishore negotiates the intricate notes of O mere dil ke chain and O hansini. These are not easy compositions to sing for any singer, no matter how trained and accomplished. That Kishore Kumar could actually do them without being trained in the hoary art of vocalization is indeed a matter worthy of scholars and parapsychologists.
There’s an uncanny aptness to Kishore Kumar’s singing. Whether singing for a leading man other than himself, or warbling merrily for himself on screen, Kishore-da always made the tune feel special.
Unlike some other singing greats, Kishore Kumar is easy to imitate, though not easy to replicate. He was one of his kind, though his innumerable imitators would like to believe otherwise.
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