Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen : Part 21 - Lata & Kishore

Here is the link to read all parts of this series.

Kishore Kumar had tremendous respect for Lata and used to call her Lata Didi. They knew each other from the late 40s, having sung together for Kemchand Prakash and Anil Biswas in the late 40s and early 50s. The story of their meeting is funny, and Lata had narrated it in many places. Kishore's trajectory as a singer was quite different from Lata's, even though he had been singing since 1940s. Initially, Kishore Kumar wanted to be an actor. Most music directors of those times saw him as Ashok Kumar's younger brother who wanted to act, and not many saw him as a singer. His lack of formal training in Hindustani classical music was seen as a handicap, and through the 1950s and most part of the 1960s, he ended up singing only for the films he acted in and the films of Dev Anand. 

Dada Burman and Dev Anand had a lot of confidence in Kishore's abilities as a singer, but most other music directors preferred Rafi. Also, during those times, the actor-singer combinations were well formed. Mukesh was the voice of Raj Kapoor. Initially, Talat and later Rafi became the voice of Dilip Kumar. Rafi was the voice of Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Additionally, music directors like Naushad, Madan Mohan, O P Nayyar, Roshan, and Shankar Jaikishen went with Rafi, 

Things turned around completely for Kishore with the release of Aradhana. A new star, Rajesh Khanna, was born, and though Rafi sang two lovely duets in that movie, the audience, by and large, seems to have attached Kishore's voice to Rajesh Khanna. Added to it, R.D. Burman was making waves, and he had a comfortable relationship with Kishore Kumar. This led to a lot of Rajesh Khanna - R D Burman - Kishore Kumar songs. R.D. Burman went with both Lata and Asha, but his preferred male singer was undoubtedly Lata.

Given this trajectory of Kishore Kumar, it is no wonder that their best duets happened in late 60s and the 70s. Additionally, Lata Mangeshkar and Dada Burman had stopped working together for a few years starting from the late 1950s, and hence we were deprived of Kishore - Lata duets during those years under the baton of Dada Burman. What I propose to do is to give you a couple of Lata - Kishore initial duets and then jump into the Burman era.

The first Lata - Kishore duet happened in 'Ziddi' (1948). Music of Kemchanda Prakash. 'yeh kaun aya re.'

Both of them were very young, and it is very difficult to recognize Kishore's voice in this. Initially, Kishore tried his idol Saigal, and you can hear that in Kishore's voice from this movie. This is a very charming song, with Lata sounding so melodious. This is the voice that was captivating all the music directors of those times. 

Anil Biswas surprised everyone when he gave Kishore Kumar the duet, 'aa Mohabbat ka basti' in 'Fareb' (1953). 

You can still hear the Saigal influence in this song. Lata, though, had by now found her voice, and she sounds so confident. Anil Biswas's brilliant tuning is aided by Lata's voice modulations. Kishore also does an excellent job, but the imitation style is clearly heard. 

The Lata - Rafi combination years were when both of them were at their peak with respect to their voices. In the case of Lata - Kishore it spanned years when Kishore's voice remained unchanged, but Lata's voice was slowly changing, especially in the 1980s. Yet, they sang some wonderful songs together. Let us look at some of them now.

Before embarking on the journey, let me state that there are many amazing Lata-Kishore numbers under the batons of Dada Burman and R.D. Burman. We will not be able to cover all of them, for my aim is not to list out all their hits. What I propose to do is to see how they worked together under various music directors and how their partnership progressed across decades.

We will start with the breakthrough album of Kishore Kumar, 'Aradhana' (1969).  Kishore had two solos, both of which were superhits, and one duet with Lata, 'kora kagaz that yeh man mera.'

Starting from the deeply resonant echo of the humming, you get to hear that deep and resonant voice of Kishore. There is a wonderful contrast when Lata and Kishore sing together. Kishore's voice was majestic, resonant and shone in the lower and mid registers, while Lata's voice was melodious and ruled the upper registers. The thick-thin combined effect of the voices is magical.

The same year, 1969, also saw Kishore singing a lovely, 'shokiyon mein' for his good friend, Dev Anand, under S D Burman's baton. The film was 'Prem Pujari.'

The song has a lot of energy in its tuning. Lata's entry into the antara is melodious, and Kishore's opening brings Dev Anand in front of our eyes. Kishore had that lazy elegance in his voice - something that happened without him even trying - that suited the personalities of both Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna perfectly.  Both Lata and Kishore keep the energy and melody intact throughout the song.

 R.D. Burman used Asha Bhosle wherever he needed a certain stylishness and 'nakras,' while turning to Lata Mangeshkar when it came to melodies. One of R.D. Burman's hits, the seminal 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna,' (1971), had Asha singing the iconic, 'dum maro dum,' while R.D.Burman entrusted the melodious 'kanchi re kanchi re,' to Lata, to sing alongside Kishore. 

One more tailor-made song for Dev Anand - Kishore combination. The way Kishore manoeuvres his voice is a master class on how to adapt your voice for a situation subtly. Lata is at her melodious best in the song. She understands the rhythm perfectly, and the way she starts the antara by interrupting Kishore gives us all a thrill when we listen to it.  Again, the contrast in their voices works in tandem in this song.

S.D. Burman entrusted an emotional, climactic song to the Lata-Kishore, fully confident that they will deliver. His confidence was not misplaced for Lata and Kishore brilliant sing this emotional song, bringing all their expertise into play. 'tere mere milan ki yeh raina,' from 'Abhimann' (1973).

Observe how Kishore eschews his 'lazy' voice and brings gravitas to the song. Lata is, anyway, a past master in singing emotion-laden songs, and she uses her voice modulation to great effect to provide the right emotion. The slow fade of the voice, and the way she controls the volume, show the sort of command she had over her voice. The combination nails the emotion of the song to a 'T'. No wonder it became a bit hit when it was released.

Bappi Lahiri was probably enamoured by this song that he gave a very similar song in the 1981 film, 'Jhooti,' 'chanda dekhe chanda.'

This is to say how wonderfully their voices sounded a decade apart, though Lata sounds slightly sharp in the upper registers compared to the Abhimaan song.

R.D. Burman did not just call upon Lata just for the melodious songs. He did call her for some fun songs. We will listen to one such 'fun' songs. First, 'jai jai shiv shankar,' from 'Aap Ki Kasam.' (1974)

This song is probably not in Lata's comfort zone, for she has to enact the drunkenness of the heroine through her voice. I think he does quite a good job in this song, bringing a lot of energy into the song. Kishore is his natural self in this. 

While Lata was good in such 'fun' melodies, it was in the serious melodies that she shone, like only she can. An excellent example of Lata Kishore's combination to deliver great melodies is the movie, 'Aandhi.' This movie had three excellent Lata-Kishore duets, each one a gem. We will play one of them here. 'is mod se jate hain' 

The sombre tone of the tune is brilliantly set up the prelude and Lata's singing of the mukda. There is melody, and there is a slight pain that needs to be captured. Kishore slightly changes his tone when he is singing such songs, and that ensures he effectively captures the melancholy inherent in the melody. I don't think any other combination could have done justice to this song since it requires a great grip on the pace, which Lata and Kishore had.  

Another wonderful 'serious' melody by this pair for R.D. Burman again, this time for.'Aap Ki Ksam' (1974), 'karwate badalte rahe.'

This is another melody that required this pair, for they understood  R.D. Burman's pace the best. Both f them do an excellent job in this unforgettable song. Lata's voice modulation adds so much to the song.

We have mainly looked at Dada and R D Burman's songs. Let us now look at their duets with other music directors. We start with the music of Rajesh Roshan, 'thoda hain those ki zaroorat hai,' from 'Khatta Meeta' (1978)

 A lovely duet but Lata's voice is slightly sharper than earlier, whereas Kishore's voice remains the same. 

We will take up another duet, this time from the movie, 'Thodisi Bewafai.' (1980) Music by Khayyam.

This is a slow melody, the pace almost resembling many R D Burman songs. Kishore and Lata must have felt quite at home singing this melody, for they had sung many songs with such a pace. Both of them sound wonderful in this song.

Here are Lata and Kishore singing a fun song for Laxmikanth Pyarelal, for 'Haathi Mere Saathi' (1971). 'sun ja tandi hawa' 

Both are in their element here. 

Another duet from this duo for Kalyanji Anandji, for 'Apradh'(1972)

I hope the songs have given you an idea of the range of songs sung by both of them. By the mid-80s, the quality of songs had gone down, and they ended by singing some forgettable songs like, 'tha thaiya,' from 'Himmatwala' (1983). 

I don't want to torture you with more songs from that period. So we will end this part with a lovely song of Lata-Kishore, 'gum hai kisike pyar mein' from 'Rampur Ka Lakshman' (1972).

In the next instalment, the concluding one, we will look at the legacy of Lata Mangeshkar. 

Here is the link to read all parts of this series.