Kishore Kumar 89th birth anniversary: 8 unknown facts about the singer

Kishore Kumar

Legendary singer Kishore Kumar was born as Abhas Kumar but he changed his name to Kishore Kumar before starting his career in Bollywood. Bollywood’s music composer Bappi Lahiri is a maternal relative of Kishore Da.

Kishore Kumar

He began his career in cinema as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkies and got his first break as a singer in 'Ziddi' all thanks to music director Khemchand Prakash. Kishore Da has sung songs in multiple languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya.

Kishore Kumar

The actor cum singer was very particular about his finances, he sang only when his secretary informed him that the payment has been received.

Kishore Kumar

He was a very reclusive person and to keep away unwanted visitors had a 'Beware of Kishore' sign placed on the entrance of his house. He also decorated his living room with skulls attached with red lights and strange sounds.

Kishore Kumar

Though he had undergone no formal training in singing, Kishore Kumar holds the record for winning the highest number of Filmfare awards for Best Male Playback Singer.

Kishore Kumar

Madhya Pradesh government has started Kishore Kumar award for his contributions to the Indian film industry.

Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar married four times. His first wife was Satyajit Ray’s niece Ruma Guha Thakurta. His second wife was actress Madhubala, he had changed his religion to Islam to marry her. His third wife was actress Yogita Bali, who is now married to Mithun Chakraborty and his fourth wife was Leena Chandavarkar, whom he was married to until his death.

Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar was banned from All India Radio and Vividh Bharti during Emergency (1975-77) as he had refused to endorse former PM Indira Gandhi's dictatorial decision.