Two prominent actresses of Hindi cinema are born on 13 August, one in 1936/ Vyajantimala and the second in 1963/ Sridevi. Both are from Tamil Nadu and started their career in South movies. Vyajantimala began dancing as a little girl and Sridevi as a child actor in films. Both shifted base from Madras to Bombay and for both success came after a lot of hard work.

Indian cinema functions by unwritten rules and one of them is that the number one heroine must be a talented performer and a dancer and this has proved true in the case of both Vyjantimala and Sridevi. Despite a gap of almost thirty years between the two dancers, their career traveled almost identical terrain.

In 1954 Vyajantimala starred in Nagin where she dances to a ‘been’ played by Kalyanji Shah, the song was ‘Man dole mera tan dole’ and the film and the song proved a big hit. Almost 30 years later Sridevi in a similar title film Nagina played an icchadhaari snake and danced to ‘Main teri dushman’ and this film too proved a super success.

To be continued

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I pray that Ganesha bestows you with happiness, wisdom, good health and prosperity

Kishore Kumar never forgave anybody who owed him money. The producer of Bhai Bhai owed him 5000 rupees so every day at the shooting Kumar would do cart wheels screaming ‘5000 rupaiya ’ till he actually rolled out of the sets  without shooting. Another producer owed him 8 thousand, so Kumar would visit his home every morning and shout ‘De de mere 8 hazaar de de’ till the producer got fed up and paid him!

A filmmaker was so fed up of his dramatics that he filed a court case against the actor for not cooperating. Now Kishore Kumar would wait for the smallest instruction from the filmmaker for example he would arrive at the studio but not get out of his car till the director asked him to. One day post a driving scene, the director called ‘Cut’ but forgot to ask him to alight from the car as a result Kishore Kumar drove all the way to Khandala!

A financer was so fed-up of him that he planted an income tax raid at his home to take revenge. Kishore Kumar invited the financer to his home for tea and locked him up inside his cupboard. There is a possibility that many of these stories are exaggerated, we will get to know the truth when Amit Kumar comes out with his father’s biography!

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Much has been written about his controversial marriages. First, with Bengali singer Ruma Devi in 1950 that ended in 1958.  He befriended Madhubala during the shooting of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi and Jhumroo and the two got married in 1960.

Madhubala’s father had a precondition that Kishore Kumar must embrace Islam and so Kumar changed his name to Karim Abdul and nobody from Ganguly family attended the nikkah. The couple lived separately post their honeymoon and the marriage dragged till Madhubala died in 1969.

In 1976 Kishoreda married Yogeeta Bali and they parted ways in 1978  in 1980 he met another actress Leena Chandavarkar and lived happily ever after till he died in 1987.

Those who knew Kishore Kumar intimately said he was obsessed with marriage. Those who worked with him said that Kishore Kumar was obsessed with money.

To be continued

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It is said that when Salil Choudhary was composing for Half Ticket he had confirmed Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar for the duet ‘Aake seedhi lagi dil pe’ but close to the recording Lata Mangeshkar was out of Bombay for a few days and the producer was in a sudden hurry to record the song.  He put pressures on Salil Choudhary and the music director was in a fix.

That’s when Kishore Kumar came up with an idea; Kumar suggested that he would render the duet in both the male and the female voice. The director loved the suggestion because the situation of the song also was out of ordinary where actors Pran and Kishore Kumar are disguised as women and dancing on stage to escape the villains.

Kishore Kumar recorded the two versions and the producer and the director loved it. Salil Choudhary loved it too but was worried how Lata Mangeshkar would react to it. Mangeshkar returned from her trip and was informed about the change. She was curious to hear the rendition and loved it too, so all were happy and the song became a super hit.

To be continued

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Kishore Kumar has sung in every Indian language and honored with innumerable awards which include 8 Filmfare awards and a special Lata Mangeshkar trophy.

Born in Khandwa, the Madhya Pradesh government instituted a special award in his memory after his demise that continues till today.  His last song was sold at an auction for 1.56 million. He was a rare talent, not just a brilliant singer but an energetic actor, competent composer, crazy writer, and director.

This week’s blog is not about Kishore Kumar’s supreme talent or success but about his eccentricities. All artistes are slightly eccentric but Kishore Kumar’s idiosyncrasies often bordered on self-indulgence which in retrospect sounds entertaining but was exasperating for the person on the receiving end.

Wait for a day for me to fill you with details on the genius who drove the film world round the bend.

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Amit Kumar, legendary singer Kishore Kumar’s son appeared on Kapil Sharma show and proclaimed that he was writing a book on his father from a son’s perspective. He said that there so many stories associated with his father that the w a single book on him may not do justice to his genius and will have to include the entire family and their stories as well.

According to Amit Kumar what made his Baba different from other actors was that while other actors worked for entertainment, his baba was 24 X 7 walkie-talkie entertainer.  And which is why on Kishore Kumar’s birthday and death anniversary the media has much to celebrate via his songs and eccentric stories from the past.

Over the next few days I will be sharing anecdotes of the versatile singer who was also a composer and a filmmaker.

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