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A one-of-its-kind calendar featuring numerous rare photographs of the legendary singer Kishore Kumar covering his personal as well as professional life will be launched on February 4, which is the death anniversary of another famous composer R D Burman in the City of Joy. 

Collected by Mumbai based Vishwas Nerurkar, the musicologist responsible for Asha Bhonsle’s entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, some of these rare, unpublished photographs have been sourced from Kishore Kumar’s son singer Amit Kumar’s collection while some are from his first wife, singer Ruma Guhathakurta’s treasures.

The candid shots used in the 2016 calendar capture personal moments of Kishore’s life with his first wife Ruma Devi, also an ace singer and elder son Amit Kumar when he was a child. 

The calendar also features rare moments with S D Burman and R D Burman, the composers who gave Kishore a new identity in the Mumbai music scene. Nerurkar, who has collected over 500 photographs of Kishore over the years, told Millennium Post from Mumbai: “Kishoreda was a very private person. Also he refrained from discussing his personal life. I have tried to showcase his multifaceted talent and his work through these photographs.”  

Sourced from Nerurkar, the Amit Kumar Fan Club along with Kumar Brothers Music (KBM) have put together this calendar, a collector’s item. 

So what are the visual delights that you can expect from this gem? 

The photographs reveal the various moods of Kishore as a music composer, actor and stage performer. 

Also, on display are early photographs of Amit Kumar and Kishore Kumar, the father-son duo. 

For an example, there is a photo of Amit Kumar recording his debut song under his father’s guidance when he was just thirteen years old. 

Then there are moments capturing Kishore with Panchamda, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle at various recording sessions.

According to Nerurkar’s 2002 book on Kishore Kumar(Kishore Kumar: Many faces of a  Genius), Kishore sang 2905 songs in all, 1337 being solos, 179 being male duets, 1185 being female duets, 204 being mixed songs.

The calendar will be launched on January 4 on the occasion of R D Burman’s death anniversary in front of R D Burman’s statue at Southern Avenue near Nazrul Manch. The statue has also been installed by the Amit Kumar Fan Club.