kishore always wanted to be a singer, but acting was thrust upon him, and he did his best to live up to it.

A Leo, Kishore was also known for his mad-cap comedy movies, and for his eccentricity as he used to ‘talk’ to his trees in his home, and having put up a sign ‘Mental Hospital’ right outside his residence in Khandwa.

He was also parsimonious, so much so that he was in arrears to the Indian Income Tax authorities, yet never missed a chance to make fun of them (Aur Peechey Pad Gaya Income Taxum, Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam).

When he refused to endorse former Indian Prime Minister’s 20 point Programme during the 1975-1977 Emergency, he was banned from the Government-controlled media namely All India Radio and Vividh Bharati. Even duets with his voice were censored.

He refused to lend his voice to Bollywood mega-star Amitabh Bachchan, when the later refused to do a guest appearance in a Kishore-produced film.

He introduced his son, Amit, to sing, often along with him, and then amazed his fans by marrying widowed Leena Chandavarkar, who was just two years older than Amit.

In the comedy ‘Badti Ka Naam Dadhi” he included the song ‘Karne Chaley Shaadi Meri, Khud Ban Baithey Dulha’, sung by Amit in the movie hilariously chastising his dad for getting married, instead of searching for a bride for his son.