If there’s one word to describe Kishore Kumar, the one that often comes to mind is the word ‘eccentric’. Yet we all know that an artist’s eccentricity [read: brilliance] often stems from his vivid sense of imagination combined with the talent and will-power to bring his work of art into the real world. It would be hard to imagine a world without the likes of ‘Kishore da’ due to the fact that his roots originate from the ‘City of Joy’… Er… Calcutta. Yes, as it is fondly known as ‘Shonar Bangla’ literally meaning Golden Bengal, obviously referring to the state of West Bengal. My father, being a Bengali, and a big fan of Kishore Kumar used to play his collection of music in every moment of his free time, not that I didn’t get enough of that already while visiting Calcutta during my summer holidays where he has attained a timeless, demi-God like status when it comes to the art of music. It’s fair to make an observation when we say that the musical landscape in Bollywood has taken a more instrument-oriented (as opposed to showcasing talent in singing) while technology has made it easier for one to do much more in the studio than during Kishore da’s time. Yet his performances remain etched in the hearts of millions of Indians with that unconventional voice of his during the good old days eclipsing the competition with his vocal antics on many an occasion. For example, the art of ‘yodelling’ was popularized by Kishore da during his rise to fame as a playback singer despite the fact that he wasn’t classically trained. If you’re a singer yourself, you’d understand how hard it is to master the vocal range (to switch from a normal baritone voice to a falsetto) that is required to get it absolutely right. Most of the other playback singers during his time sang with a normal baritone-to-moderately-high range, and of course, he came and shook things up! And that’s what made the difference… Thanks to his brother Ashok Kumar who was already in the film industry, he was able to land a couple of comic roles, but his talent lay in playback singing as we discovered later. Here’s a beautiful example of the ‘yodelling’ that he executed to perfection from the movie ‘Jhumroo’: Not only was he a talented singer, he also composed music while directing and producing several movies in the latter years of his career. But what stood out was his ability to inject humor into his career of acting and playback singing. I found ‘Padosan’ to be hilarious, in which he plays a ‘Director’, with the music reflecting that underlying theme of ‘comic relief’ that he played in the recording studio and on screen with ease. He received 8 FilmFare awards and a staggering number of nominations for his contribution the Indian Film music through the art of playback singing. He was also the recipient of the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards for Best Male Playback Singer between the years 1971 to 1975. Another aspect of his eccentricity was his defiance to follow the rules of the producers and directors he worked with. In one instance, while being forced to do so due to a court order, he continued to drive a car in a scene all the way to Khandala because the director had forgotten to say ‘Cut’. Hilarious! Personally speaking, he was very clear about his privacy by posting a ‘Beware of Kishore’ sign outside his house. Another aspect of his eccentric behavior was that he was very adamant when it came to receiving full payments before actually getting to work. Kishore Kumar’s personal life was fraught with change as he married four times until his death in October 1987 due to a massive heart attack. There’s no doubt that Kishore Kumar is missed, as he has left an indelible mark in the history of Indian cinema ad playback singing… one that will remain an inspiration for generations to come.