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Young, Lanky And Angry Amitabh!

Amitabh was the only actor who fully used to dub Kishoreda’s songs. You could watch him loudly sing each line with his bulging and tale-telling neck veins. One must say, if Kishoreda had several moods and voices, each aimed at defining one or the other actor, Amitabh had the ability to fully live up to what had been sung by the former for him. While the likes of Devanand and Rajesh Khanna may have had enjoyed a very good rapport with Kishoreda’s voice, they were still the passive partners - KK would sing and they would mold well accordingly - unlike Amitabh, who always had a couple of dimensions to add more to kishoreda’s efforts. I think this ability (not just while doing the KK songs, but also in every other aspect of his career) made Amitabh the mega name, he is known as today.

One could ask Amitabh, if he enjoyed this challenge…meeting out fire with fire….portraying Kishoreda’s artistry on the cinema screens? And how did he see the level of difference in that challenge, if any, while going out for the shoots with today’s singers?

Kaka - First Bollywood Super Star!At times one also wonders, where would have been Kaka and Amitabh in the Hindi cinema, had it not been Kishoreda’s playback to favor them. Obviously, these two enjoyed the best of KK’s caliber while the latter was still alive. Devanand would have still made it big, since Rafi’s soft and classical mold went along with his evergreen image. But, the same can not be spoken about Bhachchan and Khanna. Can anybody think of a Rajesh Khanna without the intensity and romance of “roop teraa mastaanaa“, “yeh shaam mastaani” and “yeh jo mohabbat hai“? And where would the angry, young and lanky image of Amitabh source itself had it not been the solos by KK like “rote hue aate hain sab” and “are diwaano, mujhe pehchaano” to flourish his career with?

Amitabh, in particular, had some of the best screenplay writers, directors, producers, playback singers and music composures by his side during his heydays. Does he see the significance of their contribution to his extremely successful career? Where does Kishoreda stand in that hierarchy? We have no doubt Kishoreda had a huge sway over Bachchan’s career…but we would wish the Big B confessed it himself!