Kishore Kumar

Abhas Kumar Ganguly was born on August 4, 1979, in Khandwa, now in Madhya Pradesh. His dad's name was Kunjilal, a lawyer by profession, and his mom's name was Gouri Devi, who came from a wealthy family. Kishore was the youngest in the Ganguly family, preceded by Ashok, Sati, & Anoop. Sati was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was the brother of film-maker Subodh Mukherjee, and Bollywood actors Joy & Deb Mukherjee. Sati's son, Shomu, went on to marry Tanuja Samarth, and who subsequently gave birth to Kajol and Tanisha. Tanuja is the sister of Nutan Behl, who, in turn, is the mother of actor Mohnish Behl. Tanuja and Nutan are the daughters of the famed Shobhna Samarth. Sati was also aunt-by-marriage to Ram Mukherjee, who would subsequently marry and give birth to Raja and Bollywood actress, Rani Mukherjee. Ashok's daughter is noted Bollywood actress, Preeti Ganguly, who is married to comedian and character actor, Deven Verma. Ashok's grand-daughter is actress, Anuradha Patel.While Ashok went on to become a successful actor, Abhas, who was renamed Kishore, shunned acting, and preferred singing and mimicking Kundanlal Saigal. His brother, Anoop, while struggling to make a name himself, noticed this, and encouraged Kishore to sing in his own voice. When Sachin Dev Burman happened to visit Ashok, he heard Kishore singing, and immediately signed him to sing for Bollywood movies. After Sachin's passing away, his son, Rahul took over and openly favored Kishore over other male singers.He always wanted to be a singer, but acting was thrust upon him, and he did his best to live up to it. A Leo, Kishore was also known for his mad-cap comedy movies, and for his eccentricity as he used to 'talk' to his trees in his home, and having put up a sign 'Mental Hospital' right outside his residence in Khandwa. He was also parsimonious, so much so that he was in arrears to the Indian Income Tax authorities, yet never missed a chance to make fun of them (Aur Peechey Pad Gaya Income Taxum, Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam).When he refused to endorse former Indian Prime Minister's 20 point Programme during the 1975-1977 Emergency, he was banned from the Government-controlled media namely All India Radio and Vividh Bharati. Even duets with his voice were censored. He was not the only one in Bollywood, as others like Inder Sen Johar, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha openly condemned Mrs. Gandhi's regime.He refused to lend his voice to Bollywood mega-star Amitabh Bachchan, when the later refused to do a guest appearance in a Kishore-produced film.His marriages to some of the most popular and attractive Bollywood actresses (Madhubala, Yogeeta Bali, Leena Chandavarkar) not only raised eyebrows, but added to his popularity. He introduced his son, Amit, to sing, often along with him, and then amazed his fans by marrying widowed Leena Chandavarkar, who was just two years older than Amit.In the comedy 'Badti Ka Naam Dadhi" he included the song 'Karne Chaley Shaadi Meri, Khud Ban Baithey Dulha', sung by Amit in the movie hilariously chastising his dad for getting married, instead of searching for a bride for his son.Through Leena he sired another son, Sumit. Leena and his marriage was intact until he unexpected passing on October 13, 1987, due to heart failure.Kishore has not only been immortalized by his songs, but also by his talents as an Actor, Producer, Director, Script-Writer, & Lyricist. His movies continue to be popular even now on TV, as do his songs on both TV and radio.

Brother of Ashok Kumar and Anoop Kumar.

Has sung 327 duets with Lata Mangeshkar. At 440, only Mohammad Rafi has sung more duets with Lata.

Along with Kalyanji Veerji Shah, he introduced electronic music to Bollywood.

Had a misunderstanding with Amitabh Bachchan in the mid 1980s. He refused to sing for Amitabh when Amitabh refused to act in a movie produced by Kishore. Amitabh then faced his worst phase in his career after this. He later made a comeback several years later with Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Kishore learnt yodeling by listening to his brother Anoop Kumar's Austrian records.