Opinion | Kishore Kumar: A Life Of Missed Opportunities But No Regrets
Opportunities lost are almost always accompanied with regrets. Not for Kishore Kumar though
As Kishore Kumar woke up on the morning of May 4, 1976, he had a quirky feeling that this must be the wrong side of the bed. He was oblivious to the fact that the secretary in the I&B Ministry, Syed Burney, had already initiated a note to ban all his songs. Till last night, his songs were at ear’s length from every listener. Not anymore. By the time, he started brushing his teeth, he was banned. For Kishore, it was a well-earned sabbatical. From Khandwa to Kanyakumari, with Amit by his side, he decided to relive his childhood with a tête-à-tête with nature encompassed by his raw voice. Did he miss anything? Was he to rue anything? Going by the long history of his tryst with missed opportunities, the answer seemed to be an emphatic no, as we try to explore here. Had these windows opened in full, Kishore Kumar would have been seen in an even broader light.
It was the success of Andolan (1951) that triggered close friend Vrajendra Gaur to come up with yet another film Sarhad the same year. All the three brothers Ashok, Anup and Kishore were cast together for the first time, playing rival brothers vying with each other to win the love of Nalini Jayant. Cousin Arun Kumar was to wield the musical baton. The film failed to progress beyond the initial shoots. Sarhad was his first big miss.
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With elder brother Anoop, Kishore embarked on quite a few ventures starting with Choti Bahen (1954) and Pioneer Films Dua, announced the very next year. Dua was meant to be Kishore’s first bilingual (Bengali) and was directed by the reputed Vasant Joglekar of Samaj fame. Alongside these was Evergreen Productions Dulhan with Beena which started as Saaya with Meena Kumari. Dulhan was an almost completed venture with a January 1955 release finalised and reportedly Hemant Kumar had composed some fascinating music in this Narendra Suri directed film. By then Kishore had become one of the leading stars hopping and jumping from one studio to another and in his own words confusing one shoots with the others. In other words, he had no track of which movies got complete, and which wasn’t.
Two missed opportunities stood out that year. Guru Dutt’s Professor with Waheeda, later made with Shammi Kapoor, and Bimal Roy’s Amanat, directed by Arvind Sen, based on Premanda Mitra’s novel Samadhan. Post Naukri, this would have been another Salil Kishore combo in a matter of twelve months.
Those days, hits for Kishore were a regular affair. Films like Adhikar, Pehli Jhalak, New Delhi and Ilzaam, were Silver Jubilees while Bhai Bhai and Aasha were Golden Jubilees. Consequent to the success of Aasha, M.V. Raman launched his most ambitious film, Jwala. The film, with a touch of ancient history, was launched with Kishore and Madhubala. It was released in 1971 and in between, Kishore got replaced by Sunil Dutt and Jwala was thus the only instance where the hero was replaced owing to Madhubala’s health condition. That was the first of many unexplored possibilities with Madhubala.
By 1956-57, he was second only to Dilip Kumar in terms of films on the floor. One collateral damage of these enviable statistics would relate to incomplete films. Thus, as on 1958, when he was shining high and bright, he perhaps never thought that K Amarnath’s Bade Log, Naya Sangram, SD Narang’s Nautanki with Vaijayantimala, Baap Bete, Lal Saheb, Bhagwan’s Hanste Jaana, Love Spot (with Sadhana), Tumse Mile Hum (again with Sadhana) and Carnival would never see the light. In between he lost Char Dil Char Rahen and Chhalia to Raj Kapoor and College Girl (1959) to Shammi Kapoor although when the announcements were made, respective producers had Kishore in the papers.
The year 1958 was also the time when Director ML Anand pulled up a coup. Well almost. He made Nargis and Kishore Kumar grace the sets for first time in Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Raani with both the hero and heroine in double roles. For Kishore, this was to be first double role. Four songs were reportedly recorded and a song “halka phulka" sung by Kishore, Lata and Mohammed Rafi was supposed to be picturised in Kashmir when Nargis suddenly announced pregnancy, never to return. This was without doubt a monumental miss in Kishore Kumar’s acting career. And maybe Nargis’s too. Most importantly, for the audience, it was the chance of a lifetime witnessing two contrasting personalities trying to outdo each other on screen.
These were no ordinary statistics but compared to what would follow the next decade they paled in comparison. That during the making of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Kishore had a rollicking love affair with Madhubala was common knowledge. What is however generally known are those several Kishore Madhubala films, started alongside Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi which could not cross the dotted line. Roop Rangam’s Chhup Chhup ke and Shakti Samanta’s Hum to Mohabbat Karega (later renamed Daal Mein Kaala and Naughty Boy respectively) are two unfinished projects which comes to mind, but which were later remade four years hence albeit with different heroines. Others like Rukti Ka Naam Khatara and Hip Hip Hurray, both supposedly sequels to Chalti ka naam Gaadi didn’t proceed beyond the mahurats and initial shootings. Interestingly, Hip Hip Hurray’s mahurat took place on Republic Day, 1960. Six years ago, Bimal Roy had chosen the same occasion for the mahurat of Naukri.
The same year Kishore wrote the story for Ramesh Pant’s Mandir starring him and Madhubala. Madhubala’s health had started giving away by then making the continuity an almost impossible task. Sister Chanchal was tried in her place in Madhubala Productions Ghar Jamai, which though completed could not fetch a release. By this time, Kishore Films was slowly taking shape, replacing the K.S. Films banner. His last for that banner with his secretary Anoop Sharma was Saara jag Apna with Shakila under the direction of Ramesh Pant. That too got nipped in the bud.
But if you thought that missed opportunities were limited to songs and movies, you have not heard the best yet. Neela Aasmaan and Suhana Geet were two projects extremely close to his heart as he launched his Kishore Films banner, closing on his thirtieth birthday. He had zeroed in on Phani Majumdar as the director, one who had impressed him during Andolan. Vrajendra Gaud would assist him in formulating the stories. And finally, he would compose…
While Neela Aasmaan dealt with the unusual subject of a priest and a young lady as the lone survivors of a shipwreck, Suhana Geet, initially named Adhura Geet, was all about a struggling singer. Neela Aasmaan was conceptualised in colour, but scouting for coloured stock was tough those days and an uncompromising Kishore decided to stall the venture itself.
Unlike Neela Aasmaan, Kishore had no inhibition about creating Suhana Geet in black and white. The shooting started in August 1959 and continued at a fair pace till early 1960, when Madhubala’s health slowly started fading. By then, six reels had already been completed, and Madhubala and her health condition ensured that it stayed at six. The halo surrounding Neela Aasmaan and Suhana Geet remains legendary. Kishore Kumar had unwittingly become the only Hindi film composer whose first two films, both shelved, generated an extremely high degree of interest courtesy a couple of songs from Neela Asmaan released by son Amit in the mid- nineties and a 48 second clip of ‘Baje baje re kahin basuriya’, a raag Malgunji-based semi-classical song from Suhana Geet. Sung almost in a state of hypnotic absorption, this song is a prime example of the marriage of finesse and immersive homework, puzzling whatever generations the song has encountered right from those who heard them in the studios to the Gen Zs of the Instagrams. Suffice to say, the completion of these two movies would have catapulted him to a different league altogether.
Another potential seminal movie which fell halfway was Kavi Kishoredas B.A, again with Madhubala. Inspired from Danny Kaye’s Secret life of Walter City, he produced a full-page ad in Screen, painted by himself. Dressed in a Dhoti and long coat with rubber shoes and a ruled notebook in hands, he painted a crow sitting on his head with an umbrella trapped in his elbow. That was to be his last attempt with Madhubala. It too remained an “attempt".
During those days, he had also announced a musical “Band Master “with Shakila and Helen in which he was contemplating playing five different roles. Madhubala’s treatment was eating up all the finances and this interesting concept too couldn’t go beyond the ads and the mahurats.
Contrary to popular belief, sixties was not all that slow going for Kishore. Apart from the above, several movies were conceptualised which were not run of the mill types. Heading the pack was his own production, Deenu ka Deenanath (1965) with Amit Kumar which talks of a shepherd boy whose faith in God created miracles. The mahurat was held at Badrinath and had Ruma’s daughter too in a significant role. Then there was the much-awaited comedy, Do Joker, announced in September 1965, with Mahmood with music by Pancham, almost a prequel to its famous counterpart with a similar cast. A science fiction Panchiswi Sadi and some inconsequential B grade films like Ek Bhawra Do Phool (1965), Chattan, C.P Dixit’s Chotta Aadmi and Kitna Najuk hai dil (1966) were not helping matters. Not that those mattered. But three films, all in 1966, did.
The first was VP Films Dil Se Mile Dil, which had Kishore locking horns with the towering Balraj Sahni for the first time, next the Phani Majumdar directed Maa, reportedly based on the INA soldiers Malaya exploits and featuring one of his go-to songs “Main hasoon", and the third being Gautam Mukherjee’s Sapna, where he plays a traditional music teacher. The thought itself gives goosebumps. All the three were ready for release and got shelved due to unknown reasons
Along with Soumitra Chatterjee and Sanjeev Kumar, Kishore was also one of the few who refused the titular role of Anand in the eponymous film (1970). Of the many reasons that have been attributed to the oft-debated ‘why’, Kishore clears the air and attributes his refusal to Hrishikesh’s alluding it to a favour he was doing for Kishore. Kishore’s loss was Rajesh Khanna’s gain. Anand was a potential revival for Kishore, the actor, interrupted by his unique ability to let go the opportunities without a tinge of remorse.
Though Kishore’s singing career was propelling high, his interest in filmmaking never fizzled out. After Door ka Raahi, he announced Jaahil, with Amit, a story of a father and his retarded son. Similarly, after Badhti ka Naam Dadhi, he launched Dilli ka Billi Bombay ka Billa, again with Amit. In the late seventies, he started his most famous unreleased movie Pyaar Ajnabi hai (1978) which apparently had no story but was created as a medium to woo Leena. In the same year, he announced “Sir, My Name Is Muthuswamy" and donned the role of a cinematographer and editor along with his other obvious roles. In the early eighties. Gulzar offered him Aksar with Leena. That too didn’t move an inch.
Several possibilities turned up at regional levels starting with Ray wanting to return a favour by asking him to act in the 1958 comedy Parash Pathar to announcing Goopy Gayne Bagha Byne with Kishore in one of the title roles. Kishore’s eccentricities, Madhubala’s health and trouble in Ray’s own unit came in between, not sure in which order. Penfriendship under Nachiketa Ghosh (1965), Charitraheen (1966), Chaddobeshi (1967) with Aparna Sen too ended somewhere in the middle. Later Choddobeshi got renamed to Prem Bibhrat.
Two unfinished projects were extremely close to Kishore’s heart. Both his own stories. The first was Drishtiheen, a tale of a busload of blinds travelling to the Himalayas to meet a holy man, who could restore their sight. The bus meets with an accident, both the drivers are killed and yet the blinds reach their destination. The second, a primarily two-character murder mystery revolving around a retired detective and his Watson-like assistant, Danny, who are drawn into an investigation while holidaying in the hills. He wanted to make a comeback with these two films with the understanding that he would perhaps lose more than earn.
Opportunities lost are almost always accompanied with regrets. Not for Kishore Kumar though. Except for perhaps not utilising his contacts with Pandit Ravi Shankar a bit more, as deep inside, he was burning to go international and cut an album. He was expecting a similar breakthrough. That was one opportunity, he would perhaps have never squandered. Even with all the mystery surrounding him.
And with some knowledge for the average cine-goer that even if half of those films with Madhubala been released, it would have taken the geometry of comedy to unknown planes.
Only if…
The writer is a Kishore Kumar biographer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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