Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography won the National Award for Best Book on Cinema in 2022. Co-written by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar, the book is the result of intense research over 10 years, coupled with passion and fandom for the legendary singer-actor. The book traces his time spent in Khandwa, Bhagalpur and Indore and finally to Bombay where he moved to try his luck in cinema. It goes beyond the artiste’s hit songs and cinema and reveals unknown facts about his four marriages, his run-ins with the government in the 1970s, and his health issues.
We caught up with Anirudha Bhattacharjee, whose 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. A tete-a-tete with Bhattacharjee on his fourth book that got him the second National Award which was awarded recently at a formal ceremony in Delhi.

Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography took 10 years. Tell us about the journey with the book.

The book was conceived around 2010. My co-author for this book is Parthiv Dhar who is a crazy fan of Kishore Kumar. He did a lot of research on him and then approached me to help condense his research and co-author this book. The writing mandated multiple trips to Khandwa, Bhagalpur, which was Kishore Kumar’s maternal home. We met the inmates there, and interviewed them and lots of the extended family and friends. We did a huge amount of library work that included going through very old magazines, which are no longer in publication. The entire process took 10 years. Kumar remains a very controversial personality, so everything had to be validated and scrutinised properly before we could print it.

Wasn’t there a moment when the two of you thought of giving up?

There were challenges but we were hell-bent on doing it. Getting the correct information was a challenge. For example, he was born in 1929. In four different documents, we had four different dates. But when we finally found the right date, it gave us a sense of achievement. The basic reason we stuck to the project was that we had great confidence in our love for the man. Also, I am especially thankful to my co-author because his house is like a Kishor Kumar museum.

The book is full of anecdotes, facts and stories that are less known. Can you share one such incident with us?

You must have heard the song Paanch rupaiya baara aana from the film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. There’s an interesting story on how it got into a song. Kishore Kumar did his intermediate from Christian College and he owed the canteenwala named Surajmal Jaipurwala. When Kishore Kumar was leaving the college he asked him to clear his dues which was paanch rupaiya baara aana. What my co-author did was he traced Surajmal’s grandson in a remote village in Indore and got his grandfather’s picture. It was not in a printable state so we got that picture sketched and it is now part of the book. So, these gave us a great sense of accomplishment. I am sure that nobody might have worked so much on him.

You have won two National awards. How does it feel?

Obviously, it feels wonderful. The first time it happened was in March 2012 and I distinctly remember my co-author Balaji calling and informing me, all ecstatic of the win. Twelve years later in August 2024, I was in Kolaghat with my wife and was listening to a song by Kishore Kumar when I received a call again from Balaji about the win. Frankly, I didn’t expect the award and it came as a surprise to me.

What’s next?

My next book is again on a musician. It is on Lata Mangeshkar. It is again co-written with my friend Chakdrasekhar Rao and it is supposed to be published in January next year.