One of the staple features of my people facilitation workshops and thought leadership sessions - whether for corporates, social development organizations, or academic institutions - is a session on Kishore Kumar, which seeks to unfold manifold aspects of his unique value proposition, tailor-made for emulation in our day-to-day lives, over and above mere adulation.
Like his versatility as a gifted actor, sensitive director, intuitive lyricist and soulful composer,
Like his indisputable command over pronunciation and expression,
Like his whacky sense of humour and presence of mind,
Like his insatiable appetite for risk, and, craving for offbeat creations, and,
Like his never-say-die and devil-may-care attitude that left his detractors high and dry like in his cinematic frames where his co-artistes are seen running for cover for lack of commensurate facility for expression and improvisation.
Like his indisputable command over pronunciation and expression,
Like his whacky sense of humour and presence of mind,
Like his insatiable appetite for risk, and, craving for offbeat creations, and,
Like his never-say-die and devil-may-care attitude that left his detractors high and dry like in his cinematic frames where his co-artistes are seen running for cover for lack of commensurate facility for expression and improvisation.
It is a gainful exercise, rediscovering the beauty of his countless renderings whether the classical Payal wali dekhna and Baje baje baje re kahi basuriya, the soulful Panthi hu mein us path ka, Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai jo makam, khiza ke phool pe and Koi hota jisko apna or the astute comic timing of Arzi Hamari, Meri riksha sabse nirali and Priye Praneshwari.
If we probe deeper, we'll appreciate how he could make plain vanilla lyrics like Raju chal raju seem extra ordinary or how he could gracefully veil the mediocrity of a metered stanza line like Tum bolo yeh sach hai naa in the otherwise superb Anand Bakshi verse Kuch toh log kahenge.
We'll marvel at the dizzying heights that Man kare yaad woh din, Jab bhi koi kangana bole or Raah pe rehte hai achieved, thanks to his wholesome singing.
We'll admire how he poured his heart and soul out to energise the plain vanilla Randhir Kapoors, Kabir Bedis, Deb Mukherjees, Vijay Aroras, Anil Dhawans, and Rakesh Roshans, how he helped accomplished artistes like Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Shashi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor underline their reeled emotions and, of course, how he immortalized the Dev Anands, Rajesh Khannas, Uttam Kumars, and Amitabh Bachchans on screen.
Here is a mini assortment of his little-known songs - note how he does situational justice to the screenplay underlining the contrasting emotions pervading each lyrical innovation: of hope, helplessness, delight, despair, anger, sarcasm, resentment, playfulness, poignancy and more...
Hum toh jhuk kar salaam karte hai
Savere ka suraj tumhare liye hai
Moti ho toh bandh ke rakh doo
Ek Choti si naukri ka talabgaar hu mein
Sa sa sa re ga ga ga re
Na pucho koi hame zeher kyon pee liya
O sui jaa tara
Relish in solitude with or without your favoutite beverage - the elation will be 24-carat pure!