New Delhi:
Kishore Kumar was “crazy” about “ghosts”. Alfred Hitchcock was his favorite director. (Pointing to a skull, which he used as part of his set, with red light coming from the eyes) the legendary singer said at the end of an iconic interview: “Look, doesn't it look nice with my specs at its non- existing nose?”
'You're a good man. You understand the real things of life. One day you will look like this,” Kishore Kumar continued.
The interviewer Kishore Kumar turned to was the brilliant Pritish Nandy.
Pritish Nandy, the prolific journalist, advertising executive, producer and poet, died at his home in Mumbai on January 8 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Nandy stunned the world 40 years ago with his interview with Kishore Kumar The illustrated weekly magazine of India. Kishore Kumar was on the cover of the magazine in the April 28-May 4, 1985 issue… along with the bespectacled, Nandy-looking skull with which we started this piece.
Kishore Kumar on the April-May 1985 cover of The Illustrated Weekly of India
Kishore Kumar's “best” friends were Janardhan, Raghunandan, Gangadhar, Jagannath, Buddhuram, Jhatpatajhatpatpa. They were not people, but trees in his garden.
During the eccentric interview, Kishore Kumar talked about showing “dead rats” when income tax people asked him for the papers. He also used those dusty income tax records as “pesticides.”
Last but not the least, Kishore Kumar (in the minutes) said, “Women should first learn how to build a house.”
No one knew this Kishore Kumar before 1985, until Pritish Nandy showed the eccentric genius of Kishore Kumar to the world.
The world was introduced to a music legend, his many wives, his love for Alfred Hitchcock; a music legend that may once have been heard in most Indian households on every occasion.
The world has also taken note of the caliber of Pritish Nandy, the journalist who could drop one truth bomb after another.
Some of you may have posted bits and pieces of my Kishore Kumar interview here and others may have seen it elsewhere, especially on his birthday. Here is the actual cover photo of that 1985 interview. After years of searching, I found a torn copy. pic.twitter.com/OWIQf8TCMQ
— Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) June 24, 2019
'Women must first learn how to build a house'
Pritish Nandy's interview gained something of a cult following in the following years, as Kishore Kumar spoke unapologetically about his four wives.
When asked about his first wife Ruma Devi, Kishore Kumar did not hold back: “Women should first learn how to build a house.
“She was a very talented person, but we didn't get along because we looked at life differently. She wanted to build a choir and build a career. I wanted someone to build me a house. How can the two reconcile ? You see, I'm a simple village type. I don't understand this issue about women making a career. Women have to learn how to build a house first? , he told Nandy.
When asked about Madhubala, his second wife, Kishore Kumar did not mince words: “She was a completely different matter. I knew she was very sick even before I married her. But a promise is a promise. So I kept my word and brought her home as my wife, even though I knew she was dying of a congenital heart defect.
“I took care of her for nine years. I saw her die before my own eyes. You can never understand what this means until you experience it yourself.
“She was such a beautiful woman and she died so painfully. She ranted and raved and screamed in frustration. How can such an active person spend nine long years in bed? And I had to fool her the whole time. That is what the The doctor asked me that. That's what I did until her very last breath.
Kishore Kumar called his third marriage to Yogita Bali a 'joke'
“I don't think she was serious about marriage. She was just obsessed with her mother. She never wanted to live here,” were the words of Kishore Kumar.
Did Kishore Kumar ever find happiness in marriage?
“Leena is a very different kind of person. She too is an actress like all of them, but she is very different. She has seen tragedy. She has dealt with grief. When your husband is shot dead, you change. You understand life. You realize the ephemeral quality of all things.. I am happy now,” said Kishore Kumar about his fourth wife, Leena Chandavarkar.
“I was Dadamoni's brother, and he was a great hero”
Kishore Kumar, brother of 'Dadamoni' Ashok Kumar, never wanted to be an actor. Kishore Kumar “screamed and raved” to get out of the clutches of principals (whom he called “school teachers”). But at the same time, he was running from one set to another as he ushered in a new era of fame after Dilip Kumar.
When Pritish Nandy asked the legend how he got into acting, he said, “I was tricked into it. I just wanted to sing. Never act. But somehow, thanks to special circumstances, I was persuaded to act in films .
“I muffled my lines, pretended to be crazy, shaved my head off, played hard, started yodelling in the middle of tragic scenes, told Meena Kumari what I had to tell Bina Rai in another film – but they still wanted that not.” let me go. I screamed, ranted, went cuckoo. But what did they care?
Pritish Nandy had just one word to ask: “Why?”
Kishore Kumar shot back with a one-liner: “Because I was Dadamoni's brother. And he was a great hero.'
Pritish Nandy's interview with Kishore Kumar is one for the books. You can read the full interview here.