Kishore Kumar birth anniversary: 5 interesting facts about the legendary singer, 4 marriages to Bappi Lahiri connection

Kishore Kumar was born on 4 August 1929; he died on 13 October 1987. On the playback singer, musician and actor's 95th birth anniversary, learn more about him.

Kishore Kumar is regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He was also an actor and musician. Did you know he won eight Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer out of 28 nominations and held the record for winning and being nominating for the most Filmfare Awards in that category?

Kishore Kumar, pictured here during a performance with the late Lata Mangeshkar, also penned lyrics for film songs like Jhumroo, Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein, Door Ka Rahi and many more. (File Photo)

To mark his 95th birth anniversary on August 4, here are some interesting facts about the great Kishore Kumar.

Early life

Born Abhas Kumar Ganguly in 1929, Kishore was the youngest of four siblings which included Ashok, Sati Devi and Anoop. Kishore’s father Kunjalal Ganguly was a lawyer, who worked for a wealthy family in Madhya Pradesh. When Kishore was a child, his elder brother Ashok started acting in films. Young Kishore would often accompany Ashok on film sets and made his acting debut in his brother’s film Shikari (1946) and his singing debut in 1948’s Ziddi. Interestingly, Kishore is composer Bappi Lahiri’s maternal uncle.

His heart was in singing

After acting in many successful films, during his initial years as a singer, Kishore styled himself after the iconic KL Saigal, but in later years was reportedly influenced by Pakistani great Ahmed Rushdi. However, it was veteran SD Burman, who hearing Kishore sing at Ashok’s home in 1950, advised him to develop his own style. Kishore took the advice, picked yodeling skills from American singer Jimmie Rodgers and Tex Morton, the New Zealand and Australian country music great, and developed his unique style.

Sang for many famous actors

Thanks to SD Burman’s training and mentoring, Kishore would become the voice of Dev Anand from 1950s till the 1970s. What began with the senior Burman would continue with his son, RD Burman. Kishore would go on to singing some of Rajesh Khanna's best songs under RD Burman’s guidance. Kishore sang most number of songs for Rajesh (245), followed by those starring Jeetendra, Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan, respectively.

His songs were once banned

During the Emergency, he was asked to sing for an Indian National Congress rally in Mumbai, which he refused. As a result, there was ban on playing his songs by national broadcasters, All India Radio and Doordarshan from 1976 till the end of Emergency.

Kishore Kumar married four times

His first wife was Ruma Guha Thakurta (1950-1958); his second wife was Madhubala (1960-1969). Reports suggest that he converted to Islam to marry Madhubala. He later married actor Yogeeta Bali in 1976; they got divorced in 1978. He married actor Leena Chandravarkar in 1980 and they were together till his death 1987. He reportedly stopped singing for Mithun Chakraborty when Yogeeta married him, after leaving Kishore.