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Kishore Kumar One of All-Time Greatest Playback Singers, India. One of my most precious autographs.

Born: Aug 4, 1929 Died: Oct 13, 1987

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Indian Postal Service issued a postage stamp in honor of Kishore Kumar

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For great fun and rich experience visit the popular hindi music portal Bollango

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Personalities like Kishore Kumar are the treasures of a nation. Yet, till very recently, almost no document of any lasting value was available on Kishore Kumar. Only material available was the video that Sandip Roy made shortly after Kishore Kumar's departure. The people who personally knew Kishore Kumar are also leaving us one by one, and taking with them invaluable memories of the great artist. It is a national loss.

I am happy to note that recently a few books on Kishore Kumar has come out trying to fill the void. I list them below.

1. Kishore Kumar - The Many Faces of a Genius ...
Researched, Complied and Edited by:
Vishwas Nerurkar, Vinod Sonthalia and Bishwanath Chatterjee

Publisher:
Gayatri Publication
2/15, Kailash Parwat, Gilbert Hill
Mumbai - 400 008
First Published: 2002

2. Kishore Kumar - Method in Madness
Derek Bose

Publisher:
Rupa & Co.
7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi, 110 002
First Published: 2004

3. Kishore Kumar - The Definitive Biography
Kishore Vakicha

Publisher:
Viking by Penguin Books India
11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park
New Delhi, 110 017
First Published: 1998

4. A book in Bengali -- I will add later

No dicussion on Kishore Kumar can end (or begin, some might say) without the legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman, perhaps the all-time greatest music director of the Hindi movie industry. Or, the father of the all-time greatest music director of the Hindi movie industry, some might say. The regret I expressed above about the loss of first-hand research material on Kishore Kumar, and a lack of initiative of preserving his memory, applies to S. D. Burman in a much stronger way. A large number of personalities who were directly associated with him have passed away. I do not know of any account of someone actually sitting down with R. D. Burman to discuss about his father. I am amazed at this. The same comment is valid for Salil Chowdhury, who started writing his autobiography in Bengali, but passed away before finishing it.

In any case, here are a few books on Sachin Dev Burman, both in Bengali:

1. Sachin-karta-r Ganer Bhubon (Sachinkarta's World of Music)
Khagesh Dev Burman

Publisher:
Sumita Dev Burman
Prantik
GD-135, Sector -III
Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700 106
First Published: 2006

2. Sachinkarta
Pannalal Roy

Publisher:
Parul Prakashani
8/3 Chintamani Das Lane
Kolkata - 700 009
First Published: 2005

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