Leena Chandavarkar- Yeh Jo Chilman Hai

Today we know her the 4th wife of Kishore Kumar, once a successful actress of the 70s. She made her debut in Man Ka Meet for Sunil Dutt, and it was his wife Nargis who groomed her to be an actress. Between 1969 and 1979, Leena acted in many films. She was cast opposite many of popular heroes of that era. She gave one of her best performances in Mehboob Ki Mehndi with Rajesh Khanna in 1971.
She was one of the two heroines of Dilip Kumar in Bairag,she  was a heroine for Raj Kumar in Dil Ka Raja,she was heroine of Shammi Kapoor in Jaan Pehchaan,  she was heroine of Dharmendra and Jetendra.
In an interview she said Kishoreji wanted to do a film with me. He had written three scripts for me and he kept meeting me on the pretext of narrating the script and chat with me for hours. One fine day, he proposed to me.

I refused immediately but he didn’t say a word and said he wanted to narrate a script. I refused to meet him. But finally, I signed his film Pyaar Ajnabee and my friendship with Kishoreji deepened.

When I told my parents about my decision to marry him, they were very angry. They had heard stories about him and were concerned. When I called up Kishoreji, the first thing he asked me was whether my parents had consented. I said they hadn’t and had instead left for Dharwad. He was delighted and said, “Well, now I am free to marry you.” Then he said, “Let’s go to Dharwad and take your parents’ permission.”

I was sure my parents would never agree. But when we reached Dharwad, my mother and brother greeted him with so much warmth. He later asked for a mat and a harmonium. He sat down to sing songs to please my father but my father did not relent. His last song was Nafrat karne walon ke seene mein pyaar bhar do. My father came around and hugged him and said, “Your voice has touched my heart and I am sure you will keep my daughter happy.”

After Kishore's death in 1987, she continues to live with her singer-actor step-son, Amit Kumar, and has even written lyrics for his music album.

Songs of Leena Chandavarkar 

Song of Man Ka Meet 1969

Song of HumJolie 1970

Song of Mehboob Ki Mehndi  1971

Song of Jaane Anjane 1971

Song of Dil Ka Raja 1972

Song of Manchali 1973

Song of Bidaii 1974

Song of Bairag 1976

Raga Based Songs of Kishore Kumar

We all know that Kishore Kumar never received any typical classical training yet proved with every song that he was in no way lesser than any of his contemporaries of the ‘Golden era’.
During his earlier career as an actor, not many opportunities came his way to sing songs based on classical ragas. Even there were many occasions when the music directors chose to have him lip-sync to Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey as they were classically trained and so these music directors felt that Kishore Kumar may not do justice to the particular songs based on classical ragas.
In this post I bring to you some memorable Kishore Kumar solos based on different ragas.
The first song in my list is Koi Humdum Na Raha Koi Sahara Na. This song was originally composed by Khurshid Minocher-Homji, better known as Saraswati Devi, the first female composer of Bollywood, and sung by Kishore’s elder brother Ashok Kumar in Jeevan Naiya (1936). However, 25 years later, Kishore da crooned this melody based on Raag Jhinjhoti for his film, Jhumroo.

Song of Jhumroo 1961

Song of  Ek Raaz (1963)

Song of Door Gagan Ki Chaon Mein (1964)

Song of Khamoshi (1970)

Song of Safar (1970)

Song of Sharmilee 1971

Song of  Gambler (1971)

Song of  Door Ka Raahi (1971) 

Song of  Amar Prem (1972)

Song of Anamika (1973)

Song of Chor Machaye Shor (1974)

Song of Aap Ki Kasam (1974)

Song of Mehbooba (1976)

Song of Agar Tum Na Hote (1983)

Kishore Kumar - A Reluctant Actor

Kishore Kumar started his cinema career as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkies, where his brother Ashok Kumar worked. Kumar's first film appearance was in Shikari (1946), in which his brother, Ashok played the lead role.He played the role of a Police Inspector in his 2nd film Shehnai in 1947.
In 1949, he settled in Mumbai. Kishore,  Kumar played the lead in the Bombay Talkies film Andolan (1951), directed by Phani Majumdar. Although he got some acting assignments with the help of his brother, he was more interested in becoming a singer.
Between 1946 and 1955, Kumar appeared in 22 films of which 16 were flops and since he was disinterested in taking up acting as a career, he would find ways to be in the bad books of the director or producer, so that they throw him from their films. It was only after the success of films such as Ladki, Naukari, Miss Malaysia, Char Paise and Baap Re Baap that Kumar developed interest in acting seriously, which resulted in him having successful films as the lead actor between 1955 and 1966.Some of his other successful films as an actor are Paisa Hi Paisa (1956), New Delhi (1956), Naya Andaz (1956), Bhagam Bhaag (1956), Bhai Bhai (1956), Aasha(1957), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Dilli Ka Thug (1958), Jaalsaaz (1959), Bombay Ka Chor (1962), Chacha Zindabad (1959), Man-Mauji(1962), Jhumroo (1961), Half Ticket (1962), Mr. X in Bombay (1964), Shreeman Funtoosh (1965), Ek Raaz (1963), Ganga Ki Lahren (1964), Hum Sab Ustaad Hai (1965), Haal E Dil, Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966) and Padosan (1968).
A devout fan of K.L.Saigal, Kishore Kumar deeply respected Rabindranath Tagore and was an ardent admirer of Hollywood actor-singer Danny Kaye. He hung the portraits of all these three personalities at his Gaurikunj residence and would bow respectfully before them everyday as a rule. Interestingly, the singer considered the trees in his garden his closest friends and even had names for them!
Kishore Kumar also produced 14 films, and wrote the story for these films. Six of these films were not completed. ^[1] He is also credited with writing the screenplays of five films, two of which remained incomplete. He also directed 12 films, four of which were abandoned.  Kishore Kumar acted in 88 Hindi films.
Here are some songs picturised on Kishore Kumar

Song of Andolan 1951

Song of Tamasha 1952

Song of Ladki 1953

Song of Naukri 1954

Song of Baap Re Baapi 1955

Song of Bhai Bhai 1956

Song of Mem Sahib 1956

Song of Asha 1957

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gadi1958

Song of Dilli Ka Thug1958

Song of Bewaqoof 1960

Song of Manmauji 1962

Song of Half Ticket1962

Song of Half Ticket1962

Song of Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Main 1964

Song of Pyar Kiye Jaa 1966

Song of Padosan 1968

Amit Kumar,- The Tree that grew under a huge Banyan Tree

Amit Kumar ( 3rd July 1953),son of the great Kishore Kumar like his father a versatile man.He is a living document of Hindi film music of nearly four decades. He has his own style of singing,he never tried to imitate his father.
With a breezy and refreshing style of his own, Amit could never escape being compared with his father: that's not unusual for any celebrity child. But Amit handled it with élan. He was never intimidated by him. He was an extremely talented musician, but he groomed him. He was the one who taught him how to hold the microphone. He showed him the way;He learnt how to walk much later,Amit remembers warmly. “He was the greatest part of my life. I, as a son who loved him very dearly, studied him closely for 35 years,” he adds. “Under a huge banyan tree, it's a struggle for anything else to grow. I never sounded like my father and I couldn't have. We are two different musical minds.”
Like his father, Amit started singing from an early age and he used to sing at Durga Pooja festivals in Calcutta. At one such function arranged by a Bengali actor named Uttam Kumar, the audience continued requesting encores. While his mother complained that he was singing "filmy" songs, his father decided to bring him to Bombay.
Music Director R D Burman took him the 1976 film Balika Badha, the song"Bade Achchhe Lagte Hain", by which he attained national fame.
His duets with his father, such as "Haseeno Ke Chakkar Mein" from Deewangee in 1976, "Nazar Lage Na Saathiyo" from Des Pardes in 1978 and "Sun Chache Bol" from Badthi Ka Naam Dadhi in 1974 became popular.
He sang in various films, including Aandhi, Aap Ke Deewane, Khatta Meetha, Gol Maal, Des Pardes, Ganga Ki Saugandh, Deewanagi (1976), Duniya Meri Jeb Mein, Parvarish, Humare Tumhare (1979) and Baton Baton Mein. The duets he sang with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle became famous in this period.
He was at his peak in the 1980s when he gave many hits. In 1980, Amit Kumar sang "Laila o Laila" for Qurbani. This song was named the sixth most-popular film song of 1980 by Binaca Geetmala.Then Amit sang all the songs for the 1981 film Love Story and won a Filmfare Award for the duet "Yaad Aa Rahi Hai" with Mangeshkar.
He became the voice of Kumar Gaurav in the 1980s and their combination gave many hit songs from films such as Romance (1983), Teri Kasam, Lovers (1983), All-rounder and a telefilm -Janam.
Amit Kumar sang for almost all music directors and actors in the 1980s, and was the second-most preferred male playback singer in Hindi films, after his father Kishore Kumar. Among music directors, Amit Kumar was used maximum by R D Burman from 1975 to 1994 and by Bappi Lahirifrom 1983 to 1995.In fact after the death of R D he lost interest in singing in Bollywood. He withdrew himself from the film industry. Kumar started undertaking more live stage performances in various parts of the world since 1996.
Amit Kumar acted in several films directed by and starring his father, which were Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964), Door Ka Raahi (1971), Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi (1974), Shabhash Daddy (1979) and Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi (1982). In 1989, he made his last film appearance in his father's incomplete film Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein, which starred himself, his stepmother Leena Chandavarkar and Rajesh Khanna. After his father's death in 1987, he took over as director and completed the film for release in 1989. In his long career in film he acted in a Bengali film namely "Gayak". In this film the name of his character was Amit and it was of a struggling singer. He sang a number of songs for this film under the direction of Rabin Banerjee. 

Song of Balika Badhu 1976

Song of Deewangee 1976,

Song of Des Pardes1978,

Song of Qurbani 1980

Song of Love Story 1981

Roop Tera Mastana - The Song that completes 50 Years

The song Roop Tera Mastana burnt up Indian film screens on September 27, 1969, redefining the depiction of sensuality in a Hindi film song. The song was sung by Kishore Kumar and picturised on back ground on Sharmila Tagore and not an established hero Rajesh Khanna
The song broke new ground by being shot in one take. The camera placed on a trolley circles the couple, as they go round the fireplace, The shot lends a breathless feel to the sequence, mirroring the emotions of the couple as they struggle to come to terms with their longing. 
The situation was that the hero and the heroine caught in a rainstorm and have to take shelter in a cabin. Hero keeps his wet, but unbuttoned, shirt on, while heroine changes into a towel — a really long, bright orange towel — that is wrapped around her. 
The scene makes the couple’s sexual desire apparent, and it is after this song that heroine finds out she is pregnant — a revelation that sets the course for the tragic turn her life takes. 
There are countless Hindi songs where sex is implied through shots of birds, bees, flowers, fire, waves or lightning but this song was different. The eroticism in the song lies in the possibility of sex rather than the sexual act itself. 
The beauty of this song is its composition,musical rise and fall in each of the stanzas operates as a musical metaphor of sexual tension”. The way Kishore Kumar sings the song mirrors this as well. Soft, caressing notes, almost a whisper, lead to a full-throated climax.