Google dedicates doodle to Kishore Kumar on his 85th birthday

Lovingly called Kishore Da, Kishore Kumar is probably one on India's best-loved singers and his songs are revered even today, with many re-worked to suit soundtracks of films released in the past decade.
It was only fitting then, on what would have been his 85th birthday today, that Google dedicated a doodle to the yodelling singer, who sang not only in Hindi, but in Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada and many other Indian languages. The vintage-look art seems to have got the nod of approval from the late performer's family, with his son, Amit Kumar saying his father "was a man for all seasons".
Kumar first went to Mumbai (then Bombay) to visit his older brother Ashok Kumar, who was one of the biggest stars at the time. According to an interview, all he wanted to do was sing and meet his idol K L Saigal, but he stayed on and went on to become one of the most iconic and successful playback singers in the history of Indian cinema. He was also an actor, lyricist, producer, director, composer and screenwriter.
Even though he mostly played happy characters in his films and sang songs about love, happiness and togetherness, his personal life always remained turbulent, and in a candid interview with Pritish Nandy in 1985, he expressed his desire to go back to his hometown of Khandwa, where he was buried.
Kumar was born on August 4, 1929 and died on October 13, 1987.
ajhurani@thenational.ae