JUNAID Jamshed, the late pop-star-turned- cleric- and- preacher, had once disclosed that a film song kept haunting him before and later when he had fully devoted his life to the cause of Islam. He could not resist the temptation of singing this song even as a cleric. The song was Yeh jeevan hai, is jeevan ka yehi hai, yehi hai, yehi hai rung roop.

This was sung by Kishore Kumar for the film Piya ka Ghar in 1972.

Kishore, whose 30th death anniversary fell on Oct 13, was the most versatile showman of Bombay’s film industry during the last century. He was a born artiste and, besides singing, his creativity extended to other components of film-making. He was an actor, lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenplay and script writer but known to the world as an unforgettable singer.

My husband’s personal favourite of Kishore is Mere mehboob qayamat hogi from the film Mr X in Bombay released in 1964. This helped him win the first prize three times in singing competitions organised by DHA clubs, Karachi. There are several such hit songs of Kishore but his duets with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle add more charm to the renditions.

Some of these duets are: Piya piya piya mora jiya pukare with Asha for the film Baap re Baap (1955); Yeh ratein yeh mosam nadi ka kinara with Asha from Dilli ka Thug (1958); Gata rahe mera dil with Lata from Guide (1965); Kora kaghaz tha yeh man mera with Lata from Aradhana (1969) and Dekha ek khwab to ye silsile huay with Lata from Silsila (1981).

Kishore’s memory and his songs will not fade out for many generations to come and the budding singers of the modern era will continue to emulate his unique singing style.

Qaisra Rahim

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2017