Biographical details

Real name

Abhas Kumar Ganguly

Date of birth

4 August 1929 (Friday), Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India

Date of death

13 October 1987 (Tuesday), Gauri Kunj, Juhu Tara Road, Mumbai, India

Education

• Primary education from Pandit Makhan Lal Chaturvedi Primary School (Double Phatak Hindi Medium), Bombay Road, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh
• Matric from New High School, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh
• Intermediate from Christian College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Father

Kunjlal Ganguly, Advocate

Mother

Gauri Devi, Housewife

Elder brothers

• Ashok Kumar (real name Kumud Ganguly), Actor
• Anoop Kumar, Actor

Elder sister

Sati Devi

Wives

1. Ruma Devi, Actress
2. Madhubala, Actress
3. Yogita Bali, Actress
4. Leena Chandavarkar, Actress

Children

1. Amit Kumar
2. Sumit Kumar

Contribution in film industry

Playback singer, actor, music director, lyricist, story writer, producer, and director.

• He sang around 3,000 songs.
• He sang the maximum number of songs under the music direction of Rahul Dev Burman.
• He sang the maximum number of songs written by Anand Bakshi.
• He sang the maximum duets with Asha Bhosle (female) and with Mohammed Rafi (male).
• He acted in around 100 films, playing the lead in around 80.
• He produced nine films and wrote the script of nine films.
• He directed seven films.
• He wrote 16 songs.
• He composed music for 15 films, including shelved projects.
• He sang a maximum of 11 songs in the film Jhumroo (1961) under his own music direction.
• His debut song was “Marne Ki Duyayen Kyon Maangun…” from Ziddi (1948), under Khemchand Prakash, picturised on Dev Anand. His last recorded song was “Guru Guru Aa Jao Guru…” from Waqt Ki Aawaaz (1987) with Asha Bhosle, under Bappi Lahiri, recorded on 12 October 1987 and picturised on Mithun Chakraborty.

Awards and honours

International award

1979 at Los Angeles, U.S.A., for outstanding contribution in the field of music.

Filmfare Awards

Kishore Kumar received the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer eight times for the following songs:

Other awards

• Lata Mangeshkar Samman (1985–86) for outstanding contribution to singing.
• Presented consistently 14 times by Lions Club, Mumbai.
• Also honoured by Lions Club, Delhi.
• Honoured many times by Bangla Film Journalists Association (B.F.J.A.), Kolkata.

Filmfare nominations

Kishore Kumar was nominated as playback singer for the following songs but did not win the award for these nominations:

“Kishore Kumar Samman”

The Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh instituted the annual national award “Kishore Kumar Samman” in 1997–1998 for direction, acting, script writing, and lyrics in cinema. A sum of two lakh rupees and a plaque are presented. A five-member selection committee of creative experts recommends recipients.

“My Favourite Songs”

Kishore Kumar's own favourite songs sung by him:

Kishore Kumar ranked his favourite songs (1 to 10, as shown above) in an interview with journalist Preetish Nandy (The Illustrated Weekly of India, 28 April 1985).

Untouched aspects of the legend

• As an actor, Sati Vijaya (1948) was his only mythological film in which he did not sing.
• Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin (1982), directed by Kishore Kumar, was a songless film.
• He often used the name “Kishore” in films in which he acted.
• He did not charge Rajesh Khanna's banner Ashirwad Films for Alag Alag (1985).
• Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Amit Kumar, and Bappi Lahiri sang under his music direction, and vice versa.
• He did playback for the serial Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.
• He sang in chorus as a child artist in films such as Bandhan (1940) (“Chal Chal Re Naujawan…”) and Bombay Talkies.
• In Bombay Talkies' Jwar Bhata (1944), Dilip Kumar's first film, Ruma Devi and Madhubala both appeared as child artists; they later became his first and second wives.
• He married four times; all his wives were actresses, and when he first met each of them they lived in the Bandra area of Mumbai.
• He financially helped Satyajit Ray during the making of the Bengali film Pather Panchali.
• He loved simplicity, fish, rabri, and poori-bhaji; he disliked alcohol, telephone calls, and tax problems.
• The Madhya Pradesh Government instituted the national “Kishore Kumar Samman” in 1997 in his memory.
• He was born in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh); his samadhi is also in Khandwa.
• The M.P. Government developed a colony named “Kishore Kumar Nagar” in Khandwa.