His was a wonder voice. It could soar like Mohammad Rafi, intoxicate like Kishore Kumar, caress like A M Raja or energise like T M Soundarrajan. “Whenever I felt low, his voice would rejuvenate me,” said Suhasini Mani Ratnam, referring to the music legend S P Balasubrahmanyam.

He was gifted with this rare, fluent and mellifluous voice,” said Satyajit Ray about Kishore Kumar. “As a singer of popular songs, he had no equal.” “Just hear the word Kishore and you smile,” Amitabh Bachchan said. “That’s because his name symbolised entertainment.”

In 1964, when Mehboob Khan, producer-director of Mother India, was seriously ill at a Los Angeles hospital, his wife called Lata Mangeshkar from there. Khan snatched the phone and said, “Lata, I am very ill. Can you please sing Rasik balma for me?” Moist-eyed, Lata sang this