This is a critical appraisal of kishorekumar the singer. Elsewhere onthis site u can Find my review of "Twenty Best songs of kishorekumar".Kishorekumar was a singer, actor, music composer and much more! butplayback singing was his forte. he was a great comdeian and a genius offbeat music composer. But Kishore as a singer shadows these other roles.
He had a true "Pahadi" yet tender and soft voice with unusual depth which could convey the philosophy of life as is done in songs like "Zindagi ka safr hai ye kaisa safar" or "Aanewal Pal ". Hisvoice was the one and only one of it’s kind. Though he did not possessas high a range as "RAF" yet he did have a marvellous range andmoreover his voice does not break at high notes like occasional breakdown of RAfF’s voice at high notes and his voice has depth at highernotes as well. On the other hand he was extremely good singer at low notes, a rare trait in a singer and in this aspect he excelled all hiscontemporaries. Kumar Sanu was a very successful clone but Kumar Sanufailed in high notes, kishorekumar’ s mastery over alaapis, the richtimbre of kishore’s voice and the unmatched depth. That’s why thoughkumar sanu songs are pleasant and romantic they do not convey aphilosophyand do not attain the ame graet height though sungmarvelously.
Kishore was unique in his singing style as he used "he he " rather than usual "aa aa" taans , a Gem of originality. He practiced yodeling in "Mai hu zumroo" and "Nakharewali" etc.On the other hand he conveyed blue mood in "Chingari Koi Bhdake", "Manzile Apni Jagah Hai" .He was a great singer of romantic songs like "Pal Pal Dilke pyas", "Pyar diwana ", "Ho mere Dil ki Chain", "Phooloke Rangse", "Chhokar Mere Manko" . He expressed strong physical teenage love in " Dil kya kare " in an unprecedented and novel singing style.
The mesmerizing effect of the soft voice could be felt in "Yeh Jeevan Hai" and the song "Kab Tak Andhere Man ko Chalenge"(From "Bato batome). Here was a Divine voice **makingyou feel that God is singing! After listening to these songs one can not but have a feeling that music composers failed to do justice to theDivine voice.
S.D burman conveyed Pahadi feel in his voice in Taylor made "Shokhiyo Me Ghola Jaye" ( Look at the alapi in this song!)! S.d burman spoTted his talent and specially created male romeo songs in his voice like "YeDil Na Hota Bechara", "Khwab Ho Tum", "Mana Janab ne Pukara Nahi", "OMere Sapno ki Rani, "Rup Tera Mastana", " Hum Hai Rahi Pyarke" "Meet NaMila re Manka" .All these are haunting melodies of a genre and peppy yet classic designed to bring the singer to fame!, like the numbers O.P Nayyar created for ASHA.(Inviting songs!)
He was not classically trained and yet sang "Mere Naina Sawan Bhado" in a true "Gawai" voice a rare voice which is not usually practiced by a light music singer.
He used very less Alapis but when needed introduced electrifying taans as his own variation in "Aanlkhome Humne Aapke Sapane Sajaye Hai "(This taan is not practiced BY LATA in this duet") and in the song "Jab Bhi Koi Kangana Bole "(From Shaukin). This Taan is a trademark of kishore alongwith "HEHE and yodelling.
He sang "Hume Tumse Pyar Kitana" in a soft voice to touch the heart and scoredover classical version of Parvenn sultana fill of alaaps by virtue ofpure voice quality.This is the only example of this kind in light music.
He was impeccable inmotivational songs like "Jeevan Se Na Har Jeenewael’, the best song in this category. He sang a very difficult composition of salil choudhary "Koi Hota Jisko Apana" which uses all 3 octaves.
Hetruly pioneered an unorthodox, unconventional singing style which wasnot practiced before him and now it is practiced by many singers in"Marathi" as well as Hindi". In this respect he was a way ahead of hiscontemporaries. Lata, Asha, Rafi, Yesudas, SP balsubramanian, whofollowed a conventional singing style and one has to just lisren to "Dil Kya Kare", "Mere Naina Sawan Bhado", "Shokihyo Me Ghola Jaye", "Nakharewali", "Kab Tak Andhere Manko chalenge" to stand testimony for unorhodox singing!
Another song is "MaineTumse Kuch Nahi manga. Aaj De Do - Neenda Ka Vardan" a sad songfrom the film "Katha" which kishore and kishore could render. kishore sang many good numbers even in eighties and he sang the popular romantic number "O Yara Tu Yaro Se Hai Pyara" towards the end of his carrear.
Itis intersting to note that well established singers like Yesudas triedto imitate his style in the song "Mana Ho Tum Behad Hasi Aise Bure HumBhi Nahi" and even Mohd Rafi could not resist the temptation ofimitation in "Oonchi Oonchi Batose Kisika Pet Bharata Nahi"
Sadlycomposers did not do justice to him .All composers of fifties(barringexception of S.D burman, Khemchand Prakash) ignored him though he hasproduced rare gems with each one of them(except Naushad) and the nextgeneration composers, LP. Kalyanji Anadji, Bappi Lahiri commerciallyexploited his voice with the notable exception of RD burman who rightfrom beginning in movies Padosan and Bhutbangala used kishore forserious and sad songs till the very end and very consistently.
hedied when he realized that composers are not going to use the truepotential in his voice. anu malik who was a newcomer then had composedseveral tunes which alter on were recorded using clones. Rajesh roshandesparetely tooled for a replacement of kishore for the song "Dena SathMere Humnawaz" and tried kumar Sanu. Nadim Shravan later on createdbeautiful melodies using the voice of "Kumar Sanu" after 1990 andpeople who were desparate to listen soft romantic songs in voice ofkishore responded whole heatedly. Perhaps here was the defeat ofcomposers LAxmikant Pyarelal, kalyanji-anadji, rahuldev burman whowere in possession with a gold mine but failed to fetch proper rewards!
Thereare many debates on the issue of great singers but perhaps time hasdone justice to kishorekumar as more than any his contemporaries theyoung generation of today is fond of Kishore. Kishore’s voice hascrossed the barriers of time evn more compared to all hiscontemporaries and has remained a voice for ever!