About 3,500 chairs got taken in no time as the clock inched past 7.30pm. The Karunamoyee central ground was hosting Amit Kumar as part of Jagaddhatri puja celebration. And the man was supposed to take the stage sharp at 8pm. The opening act was Gitashree Chowdhury, a top 10 contestant of Zee Bangla Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs 2015, who presented some melodious numbers like Yeh dil tum bin lagta nahin, Madhumalati dake ay and Tumi je amar. As she started Mere khwabon mein jo, a car pulled up into the ground right up to the door of the green room to signal the arrival of the star singer.

And Amit Kumar took the stage in a fashion reminiscent of his father, the great Kishore Kumar. “Mere nana naniyon, mere dada dadiyon, mere yaron yarion... aap sabko gurudev Kishore Kumar ke bade putra ka saprem namaskar,” he sang, adding his touch to his father’s trademark stage entry.

That he has inherited Kishore’s propensity for fun antics too was soon apparent when he made a braying noise, cutting into the announcer’s long introduction. Asking people to identify the animal, he got his answer from a musician. “Haan, yeh gadhe ka awaz hai. Gadha abhi shuru karta hai,” he said.

He was immediately serious as he started talking about his first presentation. “This is my bread and butter song that let me get out of my father’s shadow,” he said, and started the soulful Bade achchhe lagte hai, the 1976 R.D. Burman song from Balika Badhu. Sharing the story behind the lyrics, he recalled a drive on a rain-swept day in Bombay. Maruti Rao (percussionist and RD’s chief rhythm assistant) was at the wheel. RD asked him why he was not turning the wiper on. Maruti replied: ‘Bada achchha lagta hai.”

Another of his songs about which he had an anecdote to share was Yeh zameen ga rahi hain from the super hit 1982 film Teri Kasam. “(Lyricist Anand) Bakshi saab’s words were Shokh kaliyon ke ghunghat. I had sung shawkh. It was a big mistake. But they liked the take so much otherwise that it was retained unchanged,” he said, adding that it had fetched him a cheque for Rs 2,500. ‘I was very excited. But the cheque bounced,” he added, triggering hoots of laughter in the audience.

While singing the song Chandni raat hai, a soft romantic number, he suddenly broke into a gig, turning his back to the audience, swaying his derriere. Knowing the confusion his action caused, he whispered into the mic: “Boyesh hoye gyachhe, matha ta gyachhe.” By way of explanation, he grumbled: “Pura gaana nahin diya humko, aisi ki taisi!” making it apparent how hurt he had felt that his version of the song, though part of the film’s official soundtrack, was not included in the film’s on-screen presentation; another version sung by Abhijeet Bhattacharya was.

He continued to have fun through the recital, once sticking his tongue out at the photographer on stage who had got too close in his line of vision. That made the lensman scurry.

“Or baba ei rokom pagol chiilo,” Subhas Chakraborty, a resident of Karunamoyee D Block, reflected indulgently in the audience. Chakraborty had seen Kishore perform at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

Kumar, who has sung for every major composer of three generations, from S.D. Burman to Pritam, recalled the words of Laxmikant of the duo Laxmikant Pyarelal. “He used to tell me ‘Tera voice bahut achcha hai par tu serious nahin hai’.” After his Awaal Number song Puchho na kaisa maza and Keh do ki tum ho meri from the chart-busting film Tezaab, he took a break. Before leaving the stage, he introduced his daughter Muktika, who said it was her second show in Calcutta and put in a rather indifferent performance of four songs. So the audience was happy to have Gitashree back, singing Raat baki.

Muktika Ganguly, daughter of Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar was back, shedding his blazer. This time he chose to do covers of some of his father’s most melodious songs, which also showcased his own vocal prowess. Raat kali ek khwab, Kora kagaz tha yeh man, Bheegi bheegi raton mein, Neela neela ambar par, Nadiya se dariya... it was indeed a river of melody that flowed on stage.

“I have never seen Kishore on stage. So I came to see him. It is really worth it,” said Nayana Sanyal of AK Block. Indeed, Kishore was on every lip towards the start of the show. Minister and local MLA Sujit Bose, who had recently invited Amit Kumar to his Sreebhumi Sporting Club’s Vijaya Sammelani, had dropped by for a while. He mentioned that he had sat through the entire show at his club.

Organiser and local councillor Ranjan Poddar, who had started the Jagaddhatri puja concert 15 years ago, pointed out: “We have had other top artists like Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet, Babul Supriyo, Udit Narayan…We are all fans of Kishore Kumar. This is our way of paying tribute to him,” said the secretary of Karunamoyee (ED) Abashik Brinda Jagaddhatri Puja Committee.

The only sign of age the man showed was in seeking audience permission to sit on a high chair. “My back is giving me trouble at times. But actually I am nine years old. Seven and two make nine, right?” he grinned, as he broke into his final song from Apna Sapna Money Money, the boisterous Dekha jo tujhe yaar dil mein baaji guitar.

As people surged forward in a bid to meet him, a car whisked past, leaving a trail of dust. Amit Kumar had got off the steps of the stage into the waiting car.