Lata Mangeshkar recalls Kishore Kumar on his 90th birthday

If there is one legendary artiste who speaks her mind without filters it is Lata Mangeshkar. Luminously lucid at 90, Asia’s greatest artiste settles down with her devoted canine Sabaa to reminisce about her favourite co-singer.

“Kishore da and I were born in the same year 1929. He was two months older than me, and would never let me forget that Kishore da bahot hasaate the (he used to make me laugh a lot) so much so that sometimes it used to be a big problem to stop laughing and get to work,” recalls Lata ji fondly, herself a sucker for a good laugh over shared jokes.

Says the Nightingale, “Kishore da would crack us up with his jokes and one-liners. It would become a problem when we had to sing a serious song together, I couldn’t stop laughing. I had to firmly stop him from his masti, take a break and then sit down to sing a serious song about life love and heartbreak. Then we would go back to the laughter. He would sometimes make me laugh so much that I had tears streaming down my face with laughter.”

But when it came to sing their duets together it is believed Kishore da and Lata ji were fiercely competitive, so much so that if they sang a tandem (two versions of the same tune) Kishore would insist that Lata sing her version first. He would listen to her and then sing his own version. It happened with the RD Burman memorabilia Mere nain saawan bhadow in Mehbooba and many others.

Lata ji thinks over that one and then says, “Main yeh nahin kahungi ke hum competitive the balki yeh kahungi hum donon dil puri terah se laga kar gaate the. We gave our best for every duet. That isn’t being competitive. It is being collaborative, nurturing a beautiful melody to ensure the best treatment.”

And which among the Kishore-Lata memorabilia does she cherish the most. “Oh, that’s a tough one! I don’t even remember all of them. But offhand I really like our songs for Gulzar saab in Aandhi—Tere bina zindagi se, Tum aa gaye ho, Iss modd se jaate hain — all of them, Then, Gata rahe mera dil in Guide, Karvatein badalte rahen in Aap Ki Kasam, Gori gori gaon ki gori re in Yeh Gulistan Hamara, Ghum hai kisike pyar mein in Rampur Ka Laxman…so many of them.”

Lata ji reveals that under the laughing façade Kishore da was a very sad man. “Yes, he was very sad under that happy veneer. A month before he died, he rang me up to say he wanted to meet me. I was alarmed by the tone of his voice. I immediately invited him home, but he refused to come home. ‘There would be too many people there. Let’s meet at a mutual friend’s home,’ he suggested. When we met, he told me things about his life that left me stunned. What he said to me that day will remain with me only.”