Announcements

HarperCollins is proud to present Kishore Kumar The Ultimate Biography by by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar

 

Zindagi ek safar hai suhana…

He was the most outrageous performer of the Hindi film screen: loved for his voice, adored for his comedy, and famous for his eccentricity. His big-screen performances – such as Half Ticket, Pyar Kiye Jaa, Padosan – could make you laugh hard, but his songs – like ‘Koi humdum na raha’, ‘Badi sooni sooni hai’, ‘Ghungroo ki tarah’ – could make you cry.

This is the story of the voice of a generation – the legend, Kishore Kumar. Beginning with his time spent in Khandwa, Bhagalpur and Indore, and going on to Bombay, where Kishore moved to try his luck in cinema, this new biography by Parthiv Dhar and Anirudha Bhattacharjee tells it all. A product of over thirty years of research, it goes beyond Kishore’s nearly three thousand songs and his varied contributions to cinema, and reveals unknown facts about his four marriages, his run-ins with the government in the 1970s, and his health issues.

Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography celebrates the music, the films and the genius of Kishore in the most definitive way for a new generation of readers.

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Author, Anirudha Bhattacharjee, says: ‘The motivation behind writing this book was to intimately study Kishore and his approach to life. During the course of it, we stumbled across facts we never knew. Such as his health troubles, how he could carry a film alone on his shoulders, his true persona − which was in complete contrast to what was publicized in media − and how his small gestures like feeding all casual workers in a film studio went a long way. We hope that readers will find this biography useful in appreciating the enigma that Kishore Kumar was.’

Author, Parthiv Dhar, adds: ‘I was so fascinated by Kishore Kumar that even for my honeymoon I chose to go to Khandwa, his birthplace. That trip triggered an unending curiosity about the man, his films, and his music. In time, we realized that Kishore the man had captured our imagination more than Kishore the singer or actor/film-maker. His story needed to be told. Finding out unknown and fascinating facts about him made the experience extremely enriching. For instance, we all know how much Leena meant to Kishore; but to him, a lady named Luna was no less. Such stories galore in this book. It is an honour to have co-written this biography. We hope this book will bring as much joy to its readers as Kishore brought in our lives.’

Executive Publisher, Udayan Mitra, says: ‘The sheer genius of Kishore Kumar continues to enthrall and astound us, thirty-five long years after his passing. For those of us who had the privilege to be around when a new Kishore song blared from the local loudspeaker or played on the neighbour’s stereo, taking our breath away and haunting us for days afterwards, Anirudha and Parthiv’s superb biography is a wonderful trip down memory lane. And for the younger generation who might just be beginning to familiarize themselves with Kishore’s remarkable personality and his awe-inspiring oeuvre, this book will be a joy and a revelation. We at HarperCollins India are truly proud to bring Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography to readers this October; it’s a terrific tribute to one of the greatest artistes of our time.’

About the Authors:

Anirudha Bhattacharjee’s first book R.D. Burman: The Man, the Music won the National Award for Best Book on Cinema. His second book, Gaata Rahe Mera Dil, was the winner of the inaugural MAMI Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema. This is his fourth book. Anirudha is also an amateur musician and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. He lives in Kolkata.

Parthiv Dhar is a civil engineering graduate from VRCE Nagpur and employed with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Originally from Guwahati, he currently lives in Hyderabad with his family. When not listening to Kishore Kumar, he continues his research on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

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About HarperCollins Publishers India:

HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India is now the recipient of five Publisher of the Year Awards—in 2021 and 2015 at the Publishing Next Industry Awards, and in 2021, 2018 and 2016 at Tata Literature Live. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

 

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