Kishore Kumar born as ‘Abhas Kumar Ganguly’ is one of the rarest artists in the history of Indian Cinema. He is extensively acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian Cinema. A brilliant Singer, Actor, Lyricist, Music Composer, Producer & Director, Kishore Kumar’s name will remain Immortal forever in the History of Hindi film and Music.
Today in this blog we shall tell you how and why Kishore Da got married four times and then due to which misfortunes two marriages broke.
First Marriage of Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar’s first marriage was with Bengali actress Ruma Ghosh in the year 1951. Ruma Ghosh was the niece of Bijoya Ray, wife of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Ruma Ghosh came from a classical singing background family. Since childhood she was very fond of singing and acting. Ruma Ghosh started her acting career as a child artist in the year 1944 with the movie Jwar Bhata directed by Amiya Chakraborty. This classic movie also witnesses the debut of legendary actor Dilip Kumar. When Ruma Ghosh was 16 years old, she got introduced to Kishore Kumar at the Bombay Talkies Studio once by somebody. Kishore kumar was a struggling actor then. Kishore Kumar fell in love with Ruma Ghosh. Kishore Kumar proposed her. Ruma Ghosh Accepted. They got married in a grand manner in the year 1951.
But sadly, this marriage came to an end in the year 1958. Well, it was that Kishore Kumar wanted Ruma Ganguly to be a home maker. Kishore Kumar was a very simple and straightforward person who wanted his wife to take care of the entire household, because he had seen his mother in this way in his childhood.
But, unfortunately Ruma Ganguly had other plans as she was a very Career Oriented & Ambitious Lady.
After lots of adjustments & compromise they both parted ways in the year 1958. This marriage was for around 8 years and they both had a son in the year 1952 whom they named Amit Kumar.
Ruma Ganguly came back to Kolkata to pursue her acting career & in the same year founded Calcutta Youth Choir, with the music genius Salil Choudhury and Satyajit Ray, which is till date recognized as a platform for their performance of folk and mass songs. Ruma Ghosh then married a Bengali film director Arup Guha Thakurata in the year 1960 & was known as Ruma Guha Thakurata since then. This very talented lady passed away in the year 2019 at the age of 84 in Kolkata.
Second Marriage of Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar and Madhubala got married in the year 1960, when she was going through a tough time in her life. She was facing some serious health issues and had recently ended a nine-year strong relationship with Dilip Kumar. Despite these challenges, she continued her Acting and it was during the shooting of the films, “Half Ticket” and “Chalti ka Naam Gaadi” that she met Kishore Kumar. Kishore Kumar was also depressed those days, having just divorced Ruma Ganguly. According to Madhur Bhushan, Madhubala’s younger sister, Madhubala got very much attracted to Kishore Kumar’s captivating voice and his ability to make her smile with his funny jokes and body language. They got connected to each other very much and finally got married in the year 1960. Immediately after their wedding, they moved to London for a Madhubala’s health check-up, where doctors discovered a hole in Madhubala’s heart. The doctors had some much unexpected news for the newlywed couple, saying her condition was quite serious and she might live only for next few years. But Madhubala was a tough Lady! She battled her illness for the next nine years, where Kishore Kumar’s love and support played a vital role in her prolonged fight against her illness. There were plenty of rumors swirling around regarding their marriage, mainly about Kishore Kumar distancing himself as Madhubala’s health deteriorated. However, Madhur Bhushan clarifies, that’s not entirely true; things weren’t like this as they seemed to others.
Kishore Kumar got every kind of treatment done for Madhubala, but sadly in those days there were no scopes of heart surgery or proper treatment of other heart related problems Madhubala was bed-ridden for 9 long years. A nurse and Madhubala’s younger sister always stayed with her as Kishore Kumar often had to travel outside for shows, shootings and recordings.
But whenever Kishore Kumar got a chance, he would run to Madhubala. But Slowly Madhubala’s health started deteriorating in front of Kishore Kumar’s eyes, and Kishore Kumar could not do anything even though he wanted to. Finally, on 25th February, 1969, Madhubala, one of the most beautiful & talented actress of Bollywood, left us to the land of No Return. Kishore Kumar was devastated.
Third Marriage of Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar’s third marriage was with Yogita Bali. Yogita Bali is the niece of Shammi Kapoor’s first wife, Geeta Bali. Yogita Bali was an average actress of 70s and 80s cinema. Yogita Bali fell so crazy in love with Kishore Kumar that she married him. During the 70s Kishore Kumar used to sing songs for almost every actor, so Yogita Bali had the opportunity to meet Kishore Kumar many times at shooting locations and recording studios. Kishore Da also got arrested because of Yogita Bali’s beauty and both of them got married on 4th February 1976. Everything was going well. But slowly some news started coming that they had a rift in their relationship which resulted in a divorce after two years. Through an interview we came to know that Yogita Bali’s mother was very possessive about her daughter and might be a very big reason for the divorce. Yogita Bali was probably never serious about her first marriage. Yogita Bali married Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty just one year after her divorce and till date Mithun Chakraborty and Yogita Bali are living a happy married life with their children.
Fourth Marriage of Kishore Kumar
After his divorce with Yogita Bali, Kishore Kumar got married for the fourth time to Leena Chandavarkar. Leena Chandavarkar, whose first marriage was with Siddharth Bandodkar who belonged to a political family of Goa, died suddenly just 5 days after their marriage due to an accidental bullet injury. Leena was then only 25 years old and finding no other solutions returned to her acting world again. And then, she met Kishore Kumar on the sets of the film, Pyar Ajnabi Hai. It was while working on the film that the two came close to each other. Kishore Kumar did not have to convince Leena much to marry him, though Leena’s father was dead against the marriage initially. But finally, the Jhumroo of Hindi cinema got married to the Manchali Actress in the year 1980. After 2 years they had a son, Summet Kumar. Kishore Kumar spent his last days of his life happily with wife Leena Chandavarkar & sons Amit Kumar & Summet Kumar. Leena Chandavarkar had worked in only 30 films in her acting career. She is alive till date and is a widow of Kishore Kumar, living with her 2 loving sons Amit Kumar and Summet Kumar in Mumbai.
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