Veteran playback singer Amit Kumar, son of the legendary Kishore Kumar, opened up about his father in a candid conversation with journalist Vickey Lalwani. Addressing the many myths about his late father’s eccentricities, Amit offered rare insights and stories, some of which highlight Kishore Kumar’s unique sense of humour and the persona he crafted.
One of the most persistent rumours over the years has been about Kishore Kumar keeping skulls and bones to ward off unwanted people. Explaining the origin of the story, Amit revealed: “Woh toh hum lekar aaye thay. Hum log show karne gaye thay East Africa, Nairobi. Wahan par he had that hobby of collecting and buying such curios… toh wapas aate waqt hum sab lekar aaye thay. In fact, abhi bhi hai woh, in the trust (We had gone to perform in East Africa, Nairobi. He had a hobby of collecting and buying such curios… so we brought them back. In fact, they are still there in the trust).” Amit added that Kishore Kumar had a fascination with African culture, including music, art, and beads. “Unko shauq tha… you know, beads ko… African yeh woh… he loved African music (He was passionate about it… the beads, the African this and that… he loved African music).”
Laughing off claims about his father’s eccentricities, Amit said: “Woh khud par mazak karte thay… he was like, ‘Theek hai, duniya kehti mujhe pagal, main kehta hoon duniya ko pagal… bolne do pagal… achha hai, kyun na (He used to joke about himself… He would say, ‘Fine, the world calls me mad, I say the world is mad… let them say I’m crazy, why not)?’”
Amit narrated an encounter involving film producer SD Narang. Narang, having heard tales about Kishore Kumar’s eccentricities, once visited him and kept stomping his feet on the floor repeatedly. Confused, Kishore asked why he was doing that. To this, Narang responded: “I have heard that you have made this floor which opens and people fall… it’s like a trap door.” Kishore Kumar burst into laughter and said: “Aisa kuch bhi nahi hai (There’s nothing like that).”
