The secret behind a Kishore Kumar hit

JOHANNESBURG - Long after legendary singer Kishore Kumar and music composer Rahul Dev Burman died, a secret about one of their biggest hits together has been revealed here.

Kishore Kumar’s son Sumeet Kumar shared the story at a packed arena at Carnival City here Saturday night as he performed in the Sunidhi Chauhan show.

Before singing the song “Dekha Na Hai Re” that was picturised on actors Amitabh Bachchan and Mehmood in the film “Bombay to Goa”, Sumeet said he would share the secret of how the refrain “dole dole dole dole” (sic - four times!) in the song had been included.

“Dada (Burman) and Baba (Kishore Kumar) were in the studio trying to finalise the song and were having a difficult time trying to get the catch line. Then my brother Amit walked past and (the then top comedy actor) Mehmood shouted out: ‘I’ve got it! Dole dole dole dole!’.

“You see, Mehmood was quite fond of Amit when he was a baby and whenever he saw him, he would tickle his chin and go ‘Dole dole dole dole,’ just as others would say ‘coochie coo’ or something like that!,” Sumeet explained.

“They tried it as a catch line; it worked, and the song became a hit.”

Sumeet said his late father had shared this story with him later, as he was himself quite young at the time.

Sumeet shared a stage as a supporting artiste with Indian pop singer Sunidhi Chauhan in a whirlwind two-city South African tour last weekend.