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Kishore Kumar : The Ultimate Biography
by Anirudha Bhattacharjee, Parthiv Dhar
Available everywhere.
When I was growing up, I knew about Kishore Kumar as a singer who sometimes sang for Dev Anand. I knew that he acted also but the first film I saw was Pyar Kiye Ja (1966), then Padosan (1968). Then I went to the US for studies and missed the whole Kishore Kumar-Rajesh Khanna phenomenon. When I returned in 1975, he was singing lots of popular songs for everybody.
On the whole I thought he was a good singer (could have been another KL Saigal!). And a comedic actor with a good sense of timing. But I did not know much more.
What I wanted to know and learnt by reading this book is best expressed in the Introduction by Prince Rama Varma, Carnatic singer and veena artiste
"Despite being diehard admirers of Kishore Kumar, the authors have succeeded in keeping things in proper perspective throughout the book, without making anything sentimental or one-sided. In the present-day scenario, when sensationalizing anything and everything seems to be the general trend, they have kept things as objective and balanced as possible, even though the subject of the book was an extremely colourful individual, to say the least. His four marriages, his run-ins with income tax authorities, with Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, his perceived rivalry with good friend and legend Mohammed Rafi—all these and more have been covered in a matter-of-fact manner."
Basically all my questions about him are answered (and much more is covered) in 534 pages, more than 450 end-notes, with fully-sourced information, no gossip, so much so that the book may be eligible for a PhD thesis in Film Studies!
I must admit that I have read the book like one reads an encyclopedia, dipping into articles and savoring the information provided. So, I can say at this stage, I have not found anything that I do not like about this book. Going by the previous books by Anirudha Bhattacharjee, I don't think I will find anything.
Happy Birthday Anirudha (and his other co-author Balaji Vittal, how they managed to be born on the same day is a mystery!)
Note: The car photo is from the website https://www.team-bhp.com/ where they have a whole thread on Bollywood and cars.
Now You Know!
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She was Shobhana Smarth's mother.
Film Frontiers of Freedom.
Now You Know!
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Right now I am mostly busy with entering the picturization information into the database for the years 1951-1960. The main part was easy. This is because, ever since the early eighties when films started to become available, the first thing I did on getting a film was to watch all the songs and note down who was singing it on screen. This was entered into my copy of the Hindi Film Geet Kosh. All that information collected over almost forty years (1983-2021) was entered quickly. It is done.
However, I saw that many songs were background songs and nobody was seen singing, but people were present. I decided that they should be mentioned also. From there it was a natural decision also to include all the background dancers and junior artists present in the songs.
That, of course, meant watching all the thousands of songs from hundreds of films again. But I am crazy, so be it. I started it a few months ago and I am about to finish 1957. All this info will be on the database website by the end of the year.
I feel so happy when I can say, hey that's Fazlu! Or, I know her, she is Pamela, Edwina's co-dancer in so many films. But my joy pails in comparison with the heavely bliss Memsaab Greta Kaemmer felt when she found out how Nazir Kashmiri looks like!!!
She wrote,
"Bells are ringing and the people are rejoicing, at least in my house (and by “the people” I mean…well, ME)."
and, further,
"I can die now. Or at least get some sleep, after I add him to my galleries."
It is because of her pioneering effort that encouraged me into trying to find out the names of background dancers and junior artists!
Here he is in Jugnu (1947), Noor Jehans' uncle and Kal Hamara Hai (1959) as a doctor with Bharat Bhooshan and Madhubala.
Now You Know!
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