The Simple & Difficult
kcp
http://kishore-kumar.com/?p=251
Birthday time...celebration time !!
This is one of the most fascinating readings ( articles ) that I ever
read, about Kishore. It triggers so many thoughts and that's a real
triumph ! I do not know much about Mr Saroj Kumar Sengupta, but would
be worth to find more about his writings, if any. Most of the matters
that are not in quotes, anyways seem to be things told by Kishore, to
Mr Saroj.
So, here it goes...
INDIA'S CHARLES CHAPLIN ? ALL IN ONE !
KISHORE KUMAR - WHO REMAINS UNSOLVED PUZZLE WITH THE CRITICS YET.
by - a special correspondent : Shri Saroj Kumar Sengupta
6/6/1975
SHAKESPEARE'S dictum on the significance of a name becomes meaningless
when one thinks of Kishore Kumar - the name, and Kishore Kumar - the
man. A Bengali name when the patronymic 'Ganguli' is added, and if it
sounds very simple to the hearing, the man, even after long
acquaintance, is very complex, and has always presented problems to
all around him. Even his most intimate friends don't understand him.
Ask Aloke Dasgupta, the reputed cameraman, who is one of Kishore's
most intimate friends since his early youth : 'Whats Kishore Kumar
thinking now?' He will shrug and say : 'Goodness knows!' He wont say :
'Kishore Kumar only knows!' Because even Kishore Kumar does not know
what he will think and do next. PAGLAA BAABU was his monumental idea
but, after signing the distribution contract etc, he did not like it !
AN ENIGMA
Ask Kamal Majumdar, who is so close to him that, of all the relatives
and friends, he alone knew of Kishore Kumar's romantic involvement
with Ruma & was a witness to their surreptitious marriage, and he will
say : 'How can you read the mind of a man who himself cannot read it?'
Kishore Kumar is an enigma to himself and he himself admits that quite
frankly.
The man who regales millions with his voice, does not trust anyone -
least of all himself - at the wheels. If Abdul, the factotum (driver,
secretary all rolled into one ) is absent, Kishore won't stir out ! To
some of the music directors, Abdul is more important than Kishore
Kumar and Kishore Kumar is very happy about that. He would have been
happier if he could send Abdul as Kishore Kumar those places which he
wants to avoid but cannot. And as one of his eccentricities is never
to avoid but cannot. And as one of his eccentricities is never to
carry anything - even money - Abdul is to carry it, or Kishore Kumar
would have landed into serious trouble sometimes
FROWNS AT SUCCESS
To those critics for whom the highest virtue of an artiste is self-
effacement, Kishore Kumar appears to be one of the most remarkable.
Always the author of his own materials, he forcefully and
embarrassingly transposes on the screen his own ideas without caring
to bother what others think of them.
When LOOKO CHOORI became a tremendous box-office hit, he dismissed it
with one sentence : 'I won't make any more films !' and he did not !
When BADHTI KA NAAM DAADHI was a miserable flop, he hailed it with two
sentences : 'They haven't understood my satire and I'm going to make
another and bigger one !' and went to make SHABASH DADDY in a studio,
built in the premises of his Juhu residence - Gauri Kunj. He frowns at
success because then he feels he has been appreciated. 'Understating
and appreciation don't make a film run !' he will say and drop the
curtain over the argument.
LIKE CHAPLIN
But whether a film succeeds or fails, whether they are of high
quality or not, they are fully attributed to him because, unlike
others, he is always visible behind them. In this respect, this man is
rather like Charles Chaplin, whose influence is always felt in the
films he makes, whether it is GOLD RUSH, CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES,
LIMELIGHT or A KING IN NEW YORK. He hates it but you cannot separate
Kishore Kumar from his films - whether they are good, bad or
indifferent.
Kishore Kumar is a big name but one does not know how to take him -
seriously or lightly. If you take him lightly, you will make a big
mistake, because Kishore Kumar is a serious man who does not drink,
does not smoke, does not indulge in any of those vices that are so
common among the popular film people. If you take his seriously, you
cannot account for the crazy he does. This confusion, the more you
know him and see his works, lingers on.
Foreign critics, who attended his musical functions, found him
equally hard to handle. When they were serious, Kishore Kumar was
jovial, and mimicked them so perfectly that, astounded, they felt that
they were listening to themselves. When they were in a light mood,
Kishore Kumar became so serious that they did not know how to begin
and where. And he sounded so like a serious philosopher-scholar that a
Pressman wanted to know very enthusiastically if he had ever been to
Oxford or Cambridge. With a sang froid, which nearly took the breath
of listeners away , Kishore Kumar replied he had never been to any
college in India and he hated the very idea of going to any school.
The amazed Pressman reported in his column : 'He does not know what he
says but when a singer has provided entertainment of a high order
constantly over a period of more than 20 years, it is quite clear that
the said singer is much more than a mere entertainer.' When it as
shown to Kishore Kumar, he said happily : 'Thank Goodness, he knows
what he writes!"
ISOLATED AND REMOTE
Kishore Kumar, the one man of genius, who writes, produces, directs,
composes music, sings the songs and acts, is the most isolated and
remote figure in the world of the Hindi cinema where isolation and
remoteness are impossible because of its many lunches, dinners and
cocktails which are unavoidable when one is as popular as Kishore
Kumar. The thrower of the party will insist on his coming, the fans
will start throwing stones at the glass windows of the hotels or the
houses where the [party is thrown, if he does not come, and the
admirers, gathered in front of the hotels or the houses in their
hundreds and thousands, will go on chatting in unison : 'We want
Kishore Kumar, we want Kishore Kumar"
When he does not want people to know his whereabouts, he will take up
the receiver when the telephone rings, mimic his servants and inform
the callers : 'Kishore saab Bombai ka Bahar gaye'. Then finding
Kishore Kumar becomes the most difficult job. Only two people will
know his whereabouts - Son Amit Ganguli and the Jeeves (Abdul) but
neither of them will open his mouth.
Because of this isolation and remoteness, people misunderstand
Kishore. Even his wife, Ruma, failed to reach the depth of his mind
and, disappointed, she had to separate herself and from Ruma Ganguli
she became Ruma Guha Thakurta.
QUEEREST AND THE MOST TREMENDOUS
Like Charles Chaplin, Kishore Kumar is the queerest and at the same
time, the most tremendous product of the industry. He is a writer of
stories, composer of music and lyrics, and singer of songs, but he
himself admits that he belongs to no school. His achievements are the
result of pure genius. His natural power as mimic and clown developed
at school - in the classrooms, where he mimicked the people he did not
like the teachers mainly, a practice which landed him into trouble
more often than not but when he started mimicking the masters, a
miracle happened : a rare singing voice was discovered.
Kishore Kumar is perhaps the only man of genius who has acquired
originality through mimicry ! Amazed at his own genius but quite
ignorant of its commercial possibilities, Kishore Kumar came to Bombay
but, curiously enough he did not bother to become acquainted with the
influential music circles of the cinema world. He worked at his
compositions, and sang his songs, utterly indifferent to money,
honours and the applause of the crowd. The music circles of the cinema
world, in their turn, refused to recognize him as a singer. His small
cottage at Juhu and lack of interest in musical circles of the cinema
world might have resulted in his completely ignored and had it not
been for the fact that it was discovered. Almost immediately, Kishore
Kumar was an actor, equally capable of playing comedy as well as
serious roles. Cast in such serious films as NAUKRI, NEW DELHI and
others, he gave a brilliant account of himself.
IS KISHORE A CHAPLIN?
It has been said of Charles Chaplin that he presents critical
problems of particular complexity because his mind operates
simultaneously on several levels, he writes, produces, directs,
composes music and acts and the question arises : 'Who excels whom in
a film?' The same can be said of Kishore Kumar who also writes,
produces, directs, composes music, sings songs and acts and here too
the question arises : 'Who excels whom?' In LIMELIGHT, the music
director Charles Chaplin excelled the director Charles Chaplin in the
music and song sequence which, as a banter on the ways of high
society, will go down in history as one of the biggest milestone. In
LUKOO CHOORI, Kishore Kumar, the producer, allowed the music director
to excel him in that song sequence : 'Sing nei taboo naam taar
shingha. ." the banter of which on the ways of our music directors
will also go down in history !
Like Chaplin he will come late for the appointment, he won't
apologize because he thinks being late is his privilege. Then throwing
up his arms, shrugging his shoulders, and making eyes dance with
merriment or stare with all seriousness of the world, he will talk and
talk so animatedly that you will feel he wants the absolute attention
of all present. They must know that Kishore Kumar was there, that
Kishore Kumar was talking.
DISSIMILARITIES
He does not make GOLD RUSH, CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES, and LIMELIGHT.
Yet he obeys the laws of his craft as faithfully as Charles Chaplin
does and he could be as remarkable a Master of subtle emotional and
mental process had he operated them at leisure. Charles Chaplin had
the patience; Kishore Kumar hasn't. Charles Chaplin's tramp is sad. To
make people all over the world laugh when the stories which contained
the laughter were often very sad, made Charles Chaplin one of the few
great artistes of the world screen. The characters of Kishore Kumar
are not sad. They are absurd, awkward, fussy, and simple as the two
retired military men in SHABASH DADDY, played by Kishore Kumar himself
and Mehmood. The very absurdities of their manners, the foolishly
innocent ways of their talking, and the most awkward ways of
expressing their ideas make one feel sad to think how some people are
so different from others ! When, in the foolish exuberance of reviving
their childhood memories and the then atmosphere which was so
different, they dance foolish dances and sing foolish songs - all so
peculiarly childish and therefore meaningless, one will get the buffo
but, at the same time a tear will come into the eyes. How foolish, how
awkward, how absurd, and how so tragic and how sad ! One does not know
what they were before but if war brought the changes into them,
Kishore Kumar's slapstick comedy, SHABASH DADDY, will be the strongest
celluloid condemnation of war ! Through the absurdity of THE GREAT
DICTATOR, Chaplin condemned Hitler; through the absurdity of SHABASH
DADDY, Kishore Kumar has condemned war ! ( kcp's comment : the author
had just gone on the sets to see the shoot of Shabash Daddy and not
seen the film, as such )
'A JOURNEY INTO AN UNKNOWN REALM'
After talking with the serious Kishore Kumar for about an hour, I felt
convinced that this Kishore Kumar people should know. He is great as a
singer, but he is greater as a film-maker. What he said is worth
reckoning.
"Making comedy is not easy because Indians have little sense of humour
they don't the line between comedy and tragedy and how thin that line
can be. The tragedy of a funeral procession can immediately become a
comedy if a drunkard appears on the scene and insists that he too is
dead and must be burned as solemnly. Making a comedy is like a journey
into an unknown realm ! Successful or failure, I make comedies because
if you want to make anything at all, make a thing which is not easy,
which puts your power, your capability, your control over things to a
test. Both too much and too little have been said on what a comedy
should be and yet the question is : 'What is a comedy?' Something deep
and thoughtful or something broad and farcical which produces
immediate laughter without bringing the heart and head into a common
understanding? My idea of comedy is not an immediate laugh but an
increasing delight.
"Comedy took a bad turn when they took Dhiren Ganguli (D.G.) as a
comedian. He wasn't. He was a villain - a man with thousand faces but
not a comedian.
"There are four kinds of laughter - the titter, the yowl, the belly-
laugh and the buffo. A Chaplin comedy gives you none. It makes you
think the more you think, the more sad you become and forget to laugh.
Do you laugh when you see the tramp, the symbol of human tragedy? No
you don't ! On the contrary, you immediately participate with him
because we are all involved in mankind !
"The tragedy starts when you cannot separate the film from its maker.
If Charles Chaplin did not make A KING IN NEW YORK, it would not have
been so much criticized. I have not seen this film but I don't think
it is bad..If Satyajit Ray did not make ASHANI SANKET, it would have
been one of the greatest films ever made. When you see a film without
remembering who made it, you get the real appreciation. Or the giant
stands in between you and the creation !"
kcp
Baad e Siyaah
> "The tragedy starts when you cannot separate the film from its maker.
> If Charles Chaplin did not make A KING IN NEW YORK, it would not have
> been so much criticized. I have not seen this film but I don't think
> it is bad..If Satyajit Ray did not make ASHANI SANKET, it would have
> remembering who made it, you get the real appreciation. Or the giant
> stands in between you and the creation !"
I find three amazing attributes in Kishore Kumar.
1. His genius lay in emoting the sentiment of the song true and in the
manner, the actor who would be singing it on screen, would do it. The result
was such that it always seemed the actor himself was singing the song.
2. He had good sense of comedy
3. He had the ability to woo and win beautiful women.
Beyond that he seems less than ordinary mortal who could not handle his
success with sobriety. All the eccentricity appear to me consequence of
mishandling success.
Jag Chan
news:j1bmrj$ma1$1...@news.mixmin.net:
> Beyond that he seems less than ordinary mortal who could not handle
> his success with sobriety. All the eccentricity appear to me
> consequence of mishandling success.
Wrong Sir.
Eccentricities were there when he was nonentity.
It was there when he became succesful.
It was still there when he became relatively nonentity.
And it was there when he becme hugely successful.
Eccentricity was a put up job - his defence - against Janus faced persons
of this world, which we take for granted as part and parcel of life.
His near and dear ones were never a victim of his eccentricity.
Go through his life history.
Baad e Siyaah
1. > Eccentricities were there when he was nonentity.
> It was there when he became succesful.
> It was still there when he became relatively nonentity.
> And it was there when he becme hugely successful.
persons
Isn't there a contradiction in our statement 1 & 2
Jag Chan
You are right sir.
I should have written as:
It also came handy when dealing with .....
Regards.