There are some singers, who you may not have wanted to listen to yourself, but were forced to because your parents loved them or you just happened to be born in the RD Burman-Kishore Kumar era. The whole childhood of a lot of millennials has been spent listening to their fathers singing along ‘Yeh dil na hota bechara’ or their mothers crooning to ‘Yeh sham mastani’. Till date, you switch on an FM channel or a retro show and there you’ll see; Kishore Kumar’s magic is still alive!

(Also Read): Remembering Kishore Kumar: 10 Evergreen Songs That You Cannot Miss.

Without any professional training in music, he still earned the tag of the most romantic singer of his era. The sheer energy that echoed with his words was something that resonated with the people back then and continues to live till today. Not just Hindi, his voice worked well for even other regional languages including Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada and Odia. Dance, jump, roll and yodel in just one song: nobody since then, has even come close to what he creates on screen. He was never considered in the same league as Mohammad Rafi, or Mukesh; but still was a king in his own might.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Kumar sang for Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Dev Anand, Shashi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Vinod Khanna, Dilip Kumar, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Rajini Kanth, Chunky Pandey, Kumar Gaurav, Govinda and Jackie Shroff.In 1986, Kishore Kumar suffered a heart attack, from which he recovered, but it caused him to greatly reduce his recording schedule. He planned to go into retirement and return to his birthplace of Khandwa; but it did not happen.

The legend of the multi-talented artiste extraordinaire Kishore Kumar has been passed on from generation to generation and lives on till today. Apart from him being a celebrated singer, he’s also one of the best comic actors India has ever produced. Not just this, he has donned the hat of a director, lyricist, and composer and even of a screenwriter at times. On his 31st death anniversary, here's a playlist of the maverick musician-actor for you to rejoice. So, savour, bookmark and, listen and celebrate the genius called Kishore Kumar.

#Dil Kya Kare - Julie