Kishore Kumar: The controversial life of the legend singer

Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan’s relations soured in mid-1980s when the actor turned down the offer of making a guest appearance in Kishore’s production venture Mamta Ki Chhaon. The singer was so put off by Amitabh’s gesture that he stopped singing for him altogether.

However, the two made peace when Kishore Kumar finally sang ‘Aaya Aaya Toofan’ in Amitabh Bachchan’s film Toofan a few years later.

Both are revered by their fans as the late Kishore Kumar is known as the legendary singer of the Indian music industry while Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest superstar of Bollywood.

After a short dispute with Amitabh Bachchan, Kishore Kumar stopped singing for Mithun Chakraborty for some time as his third wife Yogeeta Bali divorced him after about three years of marriage to marry Chakraborty in 1979.

The singer could not avoid singing for Mithun Chakraborty for long and lent his voice for his film Surakkhsha (1979) and later on for several of his hit films – Disco Dancer, Faraib (1983) and Waqt Ki Awaz (1988).

Kishore Kumar was the most successful singers who became the voice of several superstars from Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra and many more.

But his personal life was not a smooth ride. Kishore Kumar married four times but was still a loner in his last days. He married singer-actress Ruma Ghosh in 1950 but got divorced about eight years later in 1958.

Even before the two could officially separate, he married Madhubala against his parents wish.

The marriage did not work as Madhubala was on death bed due to her heart ailment and had to move out of his house due to rising family pressure. When Madhubala passed away in 1969, he married Yogeeta Bali in 1976 but got divorced in 1978. He then tied the knot with Leena Chandavarkar in 1980 which lasted till his death.

Though Kishore Kumar had fan following in millions, he was a loner in real life with no friends in and outside the industry.

In an interview, he had confessed that he did not have any friends to count on and thus he called his trees his closest buddies.

Not only this, when asked by a reporter about his friends, Kishore Kumar introduced her to his favourite trees in his garden with their particular nick names. Much to the surprise of the reporter, he referred them as his best friends.

However, Rajesh Khanna and Rahul Dev Burman were considered to be his closest pals for a long time.

Kishore Kumar was one of the biggest crusaders of the rights of the singers in the Indian film industry. He started his recording only after the payment was made.

Once when his dues were not paid, he appeared with make-up on only half of his face. He refused to act for Bhai Bhai as he was yet to be paid Rs 8,000 and left the studio after performing a somersault and shouting “Paanch Hazzar Rupaiya”.

On not being paid by producer R.C. Talwar, he shouted in front of his residence “Hey Talwar, de de mere aath hazaar” for a few days until he paid.