Flashback: Here’s Why Kishore Kumar Quit Abhimaan After Two Songs

Ever wondered why  Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s  resplendent  musical Abhimaan (1973), the story of two singers who  happened  to be  married to  one another,  has three voices  singing for Amitabh Bachchan whereas only one voice ,Lataji, sings for Jaya Bhaduri?

Here  is  the inside story.  Kishore Kumar recorded  two songs for composer  Sachin Dev Burman, Meet na mila re manka  and Tere mere milan ki yeh raina. At this point Kishore K came  to know that Abhimaan was  based on his own troubled marriage with the  supremely talented Uma Guha Thakurta who was  not only a  great singer but apparently throttled  at the throat-level from  having a  galaa time  by her  husband.

This is  the  story of  Abhimaan. When  Kishore Kumar got to  know  about it ,he decided to  stop recording for Abhimaan.  Resultantly Sachin Dev had to record two duets in other voices Teri  bindiya re in Mohammed  Rafi’s voice and Loote koi mann ka nagar  in Manhar Udhas’ voice.

Speaking  to this writer many years ago on the music  of Abhimaan, Hrishikesh Mukherjee said, “It is  true that the film was based on the singer Uma Guha Thakurta’s marriage. It was Lata  all the way for  all the songs  for Jaya . And what a magnificent  job Lata did in Abhimaan—Piya  bina piya bina, Abb toh hai tumse,Nadiya kinare, Loote  koi maan  ka dagar, Tere mere Milan ki yeh raina  and Teri bindiya re.Each a everlasting gem. Do you know Lata never charged  a single penny for  singing in my songs. When I would insist she would protest, ‘Dada, aapse kya paisa lena?”

What about the variation in  the male voice brought about by  Kishore Kumar’s  protest?

“It didn’t matter. Once I had Lata, everything fell into place,” said  Hrishida.