Kishor Kumar was an Indian playback singer and actor. He has performed in many Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. He was one of the leading male bollywood playback singers from the 1950’s to the mid 1980’s. He has won 8 filmfare awards and been nominated 19 times for the award of best singer.
Kishor Kumar has been a part of the music department for atleast 668 films. In some films he has sung more than one song singing upto 5 songs in some films. Selecting a list of ten songs from all of these is extemely difficult and unfair. Here is an effort to list the top ten songs of Kishor Kumar that I personally like and admire most.
10. Roop Tera Mastana is a song from the 1972 movie with the same name. It is a romantic song. It was for this song that Kishor Kumar first won his first filmfare award for best singer. It occupies number 10 on my list. A number of songs could replace this song from this position but i like this song for the kind of variations Kishor Kumar has introduced in this song.
9. Yeh Dil na Hota Becharaa is a song from the 1967 bollywood flick Jewel Theif. This is one of the few songs in which Kishore Kumar has done a bit of Yodeling. It is said that he learnt yodeling by listening to his brother Anoop Kumar’s Austrian records. He has performed the song really well. This song is on number 9 mainly for the excellent yodeling that I could hear umpteen times.
8. Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka is from the 1971 film, Haré Raama Haré Krishna. The song is picturised as sung by a brother for his sister. There are many versions of this song. One of them is sung by little children but this one by Kishore da is the best according to me. A beautifully written and equally well sung song. This song is on number 8 on my list of ten.
7. Pal Pal Dil ke Paas is a song from the 1973 movie, Black Mail. This is a romantic song where the singer tries to explain his beloved that how she is close to his heart every second of the day, and how he remembers her with every passing moment. This song has excellent lyrics and excellent music composition. Kishore da (as he is popularly refered to), as usual, has done full justice to the song. This song occupies number 7 on my list.
6. Chingari Koi Bhadke is a song from the 1972 film Amar Prem. Kishore Kumar was nominated for the best singer award for the year. This is an emotional song. The song is very well sung and you can really feel the emotions of the persons mind through this song. It occupies the 6th place on my list.
5. Kehna Hai is a song from the 1968 film, Padosan. The song is picturised on the actor, for the first time, spilling out his feelings towards his beloved in the form of a song. He tells her how there are so many things he wishes to tell her but would like to accept that she is the one who has brought love into his life. A beautiful and very romantic song. This songs occupies a special place in my heart but when compared to other songs as a whole,
occupies the 5th place.
4. Om Shanti Om is from the 1980 bollywood movie Karz. This song has been picturized as a stage show. Kishor Kumar has performed the song very well and listening to the song you really get the feel that someone is performing this song live on stage. He won the years filmfare award for this song. This song occupies number 4 on my list of ten.
3. Pag Ghunghroo Bandh is a song from the 1982 Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Namak Halal. Kishore da won the yers Filmfare award for this song. It has a bit of hindustani classical touch. Excellently executed by Kishore Kumar. A well deserved third spot.
2. Ek Chatur Naar karke Singaar is a song from the 1968 comic flick, Padosan. The song is picturised as a comic musical duel between Kishor Kumar-Sunil Dutt & Mehmood. Kishor Kumar is one of the actors in the song. This song has been beautifully performed by Manna Dey & Kishore Kumar. The song has a number of variations which are beautifully executed by Kishore Kumar and equally supported by Manna Dey. This song misses out to the top spot by a whisker according to me.
1. Aanewala Pal is a song from the 1979 comedy flick, Gol Maal. The song won the Filmfare Award for best Lyricist in the year of its release. The beautiful lyrics were done full justice by Kishore Kumar’s excellent singing. The first line of the song beautifully explains that the next instant is about to come and will pass away. If possible spend the best time in it. Time once lost can never be regained. One of the greatest inspirational songs made. This song has to occupy the number 1 spot on my list of top ten.
Selecting Ten best songs by a legendary singer like Kishor Kumar is a very difficult task. There could be ten songs for each position but these are the songs which touch my heart the most.
