Kishore Kumar: Some funny antics of his life

Kishore Kumar's golden voice made us fall in love with Indian superstars like Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan and many more. The multi-talented personality who had no formal training in singing was not only a magnificent singer but also a genius actor. The funny man was not only funny in his movies but also in real life and had his own way to look at life. A loner in real life, Kishore da, as he was fondly called by his loved ones, was a very private person and apparently hated it when people tried to disturb his privacy. Let's take a look at some incidents of Kishore da's real life which resemble the funny moments of his films.

When Hrishikesh Mukherjee was shooed away by Kishore Kumar's watchman: We still remember late superstar Rajesh Khanna and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic film Anand, but very few of us know that the film was originally offered to Kishore Kumar and Mehmood. However, due to some misunderstanding, Kishore da couldn't do the film. According to Wikipedia, Hrishikesh Mukherjee was supposed to meet Kishore da for the project. However, he was driven away by the latter's gatekeeper due to a confusion. Kishore da, who was not paid by a Bengali organiser for a stage show had instructed his gatekeeper to shoo away this Bengali, if he ever visited his house and the watchman unknowingly drove away Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Later, Mehmood couldn't do the film for some reasons and Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were signed for the project.

Beware of Kishore Kumar: There is a list of stories about the multi-faceted Kishore Kumar's humour quotient. Apparently, he had placed a sign that read, "Beware of Kishore" at the door of his Warden Road flat. Producer-director, HS Rawail, who once owed him some money, visited his flat to pay the dues. Kishore da, happily took the money and when Rawail offered to shake hands with him, Kishore Kumar apparently put Rawail's hand in his mouth, bit it and asked, "Didn’t you see the sign?" The filmmaker understood Kishore da's humour and laughed off the incident. According to another incident mentioned in Wikipedia, Kumar was due to record a song for producer-director GP Sippy. As Sippy approached his bungalow, he saw Kumar going out in his car. After following him for long, Sippy was finally able to stop him at Madh Island, but Kishore da refused to recognize him and threatened to call police. However, after meeting him next day on the recording, he behaved normal and told Sippy must have dreamt the incident as he was in Khandwa on the previous day.

When Kishore da drove to Khandwa: Troubled by Kishore Kumar's funny antics, a filmmaker apparently once went to court to get a verdict that the singer will have to follow the director's orders. But little did he know who he was messing up with. Kishore da obeyed all the instructions given by the director. During a shot, Kishore refused to get out of his car until the director ordered him to do so. In fact, during shooting for a car scene for the same film, Kishore da drove until he reached Khandala as the director forgot to say 'cut'.

His living room had skulls and bones with red lights: Kishore da had his own ways to stay away from limelight as he never enjoyed the media attention. He preferred staying away from the media and hated to give interviews. According to a report in Hindustan Times, Kishore Kumar would never give in when people chased him for interviews. He would usually get away from the scene leaving a regret note behind. It was also reported in the article that his living room had skulls and bones with red lights and sounds backing them up to shoo away unwanted visitors!

He hated when people didn't pay him: Kishore da was very particular about his fees and hated when people didn't pay him. According to Wikipedia, the legendary singer only sang when he was confirmed by his secretary that he was fully paid. The report further stated that Kishore da once appeared on the sets of a film with make-up on one side of his face. When the director questioned him, he replied saying, "Aadha paisa to aadha make-up." (Half make-up for half payment). Not only this, on the sets of Bhai Bhai, Kishore Kumar refused to act because director MV Raman owed him Rs 5000. However, after elder brother Ashok Kumar's persuasion, Kishore agreed to shoot, but as soon as the shooting started he said, "Paanch hazzar rupaiya," (five thousand rupees) and did a somersault.

Kishore Kumar's golden voice made us fall in love with Indian superstars like Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan and many more. The multi-talented personality who had no formal training in singing was not only a magnificent singer but also a genius actor. The funny man was not only funny in his movies but also in real life and had his own way to look at life. A loner in real life, Kishore da, as he was fondly called by his loved ones, was a very private person and apparently hated it when people tried to disturb his privacy. Let's take a look at some incidents of Kishore da's real life which resemble the funny moments of his films.