One evening with Kishore Kumar Khandwewala

By: Molly, IndiaFM
Friday, February 02, 2007
Woh shaam kuch ajeeb thi (that evening was indeed a very strange). That line from one of the many immortal songs sung by Kishore Kumar has stayed in my mind, stuck like an old RPM record ever since that evening when I walked around the compound of Gauri Kunj, the bungalow built by Kishore Kumar, the legendary singers more than forty years ago. The bungalow built in his mother's name, thankfully still stands as a memorial to all his eccentricities as much as for his multi-faceted personality. But the bungalow is not the same bungalow. For reasons best known to his fourth wife, the one-time actress, Leena Chandawarkar and his two sons, Amit and Sumit, it has been let out to some entrepreneur who has converted it into a gymnasium or what they called a spa where girls get groomed to become models and actors for films and television and also young women who get prepared for the "shaadi ka bazaar". And even as I watch scantily and skimpily dressed girls walked in and out of Gauri Kunj, my mind goes into a rapid flash back and I think of those glorious days of Gauri Kunj, the palace from where the eccentric emperor ruled according to his own order and commands...

How could I forget the first time I was invited by the singer-actor-director-producer-music director all of them in one man to celebrate one of his birthday parties. I remember how I was welcomed by a crowd of over thirty huge dogs of all pedigree who scared the life out of me. I heard the famous voice saying "Om Shanti" and all the dogs silently walked back to the kennels which he had personally built for them all around Gauri Kunj. He then came to me and led me in saying "ghabrane ki koi baat nahi, yeh log insanose bahot acche aur wafadar log hain" (nothing to fear about them, they are much more human and faithful than human beings). He then brought a huge garland made of fresh "mogras" (the flower with a heavenly fragrance) and put it around my poor neck and asked me not to take it off as long I was his guest and inside Gauri Kunj. He took around his bungalow which gave me a quaint feeling as if I was walking around a palace belonging to an emperor who refused to let go the past. I stopped before a huge photograph of K.L. Saigal because he stood before it and folded his hands and bowed before it. He said he bowed before the photograph as many time as he passed this photograph because he believed he would have been an unknown boy singing "bhajans" in a far away village in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh if he had not been inspired by the voice of Saigal. He showed me a large room which he said was his bedroom and showed me several human skulls hanging from the wall which again scared me but he again put me at ease and said they were his best friends and gave him company every night. He had names for all his dogs and all these skulls, names which were the name of people who were famous, not so famous and people he did not really like. More guests walked in, they were garlanded, but they were not given the privilege I was of seeing his house. The party ended, he took off the garlands from every neck and walked up to the gate and his dogs joined him in seeing us off ....

How can I forget how he changed the main entrance of his bungalow and the walls every three months, just to make sure that he could run out or hide whenever he had uninvited guest, especially a raid from the income tax and how the architect loved him for his madness because of all the money he made because of it (his unending madness) ...

How can I forget all those stories about filmmakers waiting for him and how he vanished even as they sat in his waiting room? I remember the story of GP Sippy, the maker of Sholay who was to record a song with him the following day. Sippy visited him to make sure that he would be there for the recording because he knew the man could do anything, even the impossible. Kishore left his bungalow as soon as he saw Sippy through the back door. Sippy saw his car going out. He literally gave him chase. Sippy kept pleading with him to stop. He refused and only increased the speed of his car till he finally reached a ruined fort at Madh Island facing the sea. He finally stopped his car. A panting and sweating Sippy stopped his car too and said "yeh kya paagalpan hain kishore? Main kabse tumara peecha kar raha hoon. " And Kishore gave him a blank look and admonished him saying "kaun paagal, main yaa tum?". Main tumko jaanta nahi. Maine tumko kabhi dekha nahi. "Abhi bhi waqt hain, palat jao nahi tho police ko bulaoonga." Sippy who was a renowned filmmaker respected by the industry was dumbfounded. He had to return because Kishore just refused to recognize or talk to him. The next morning Kishore reported for the recording. Sippy who was still very angry. He asked Kishore why he had played such a nasty game with him the previous day. And Kishore said he (Sippy) must have seen a dream because he was in Khandwa the previous day and how could he be found in Madh Island. He refused to accept what he had done with Sippy and the ninety -year old Sippy has still not forgotten that incident ....

How can I forget the time when he asked the entire unit of Kishore Films, his company to reach a far away location because he had an idea and he wanted to shoot it immediately? The unit obediently reached the location early in the morning. Kishore who was already there feigned surprise at seeing them. "yahan kya kar rahe ho tum sab?" he asked. They said they had traveled all the way because he had told them to. "maine kab bulaya aap logo ko? " he asked them and said "chalo chalo, ab aa hi gaye ho toh picnic karte hain." He spent the entire day with his unit, gave them a rollicking time, gave them all their day's dues and asked for a air-conditioned van to take them home soon because he was worried about their families.

How can I forget how much he cared for the money for his singing? He had no faith in any filmmaker. He never reached the recording studios till his right hand man, Abdul gave him the signal and said "maal pahunch gaya hain, boss" if there was a part of the payment still to be made, he just stood before the mike and made all kind of grunting noises. "Aawaz nahi nikal rahi hain" he would say loudly and Abdul would ask the producer to pay up the rest of the money and Kishore voice just gushed as he got the signal about all being clear on the money front ....

How can I forget his obsession about Dev Anand for home he was his voice? One morning he was told Dev was recording a song at Film Center in Tardeo in the voice of a new singer called Abhijit. He got restless, got into a lungi which was his favourite dress all recording and reached the recording studios. He headed straight for Dev and ask him how he could record song without him. He threatened to go on a hunger strike or go on a dharna. It was only a man like Dev who could make him understand that it was a song for his son, Suniel who he was launching as a hero. Kishore then wanted Dev to record the song in the voice of his own son, Amit. But Dev some how managed to make him see reason and Kishore finally left but not without warning Dev not to do anything like this again... How can I forget the time when he was angry with actors like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in whose career he had played a very important part? He stopped singing for them for reasons which were mysterious. How can I forget the time when he stop singing for Mithun Chakraborty again because of reasons only known to him? How can I forget how he had innumerable stories about his four wives, Ruma, his first wife, Madhubala, Yogeeta and Leena Chandawarkar and called all of them bandariyas (monkeys). How can I forget the day the great Satyajit Ray called him a genius and how he danced the whole day all around his bungalow to celebrate the greatest 'award' he had received? How can I forget how he set his huge dogs on uninvited guests and terrified them and watched the sight from a window and laughed his heart out? How can I forget the times when he pretended to be dead and took the entire family and staff by shock? How can I forget the evening when he invited his elder brothers, Ashok Kumar and Anup Kumar and made them laugh like he had never done before? And how can I forget the shock of the two brothers when they got a call the next morning giving them the news that they couldn't believe, Kishore Kumar, their brother was dead? How can I forget the massive crowds that thronged Gauri Kunj, some of them still wondering whether Kishore Kumar was really dead and his little son, Sumit playing with his body like he used to play with him every night? There are so many things to be remembered about Kishore Kumar Khandwewala as he liked to call himself but there is no need to remember a man like him because he always gives many like me a feeling that he and his madness are still very much alive and with us.

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