'I wish I had taken a photo with Kishore da when I saw him in 1986': Shaan

Musician Shaan, who celebrated Kishore Kumar's musical legacy with a tribute concert "Forever Kishore Shaan Se" recently, says he understands why people keep coming back to the songs of the legendary artist all these years later as he also grew up a fan.

Shaan said his father Manas Mukherjee, a composer, and Kishore Kumar collaborated on Bhojpuri song "Kene Kene Jaai" for a film that never got released though the song is available on YouTube.

The singer said he even saw Kishore Kumar from a distance, a memory that is still vivid in his mind as he saw his father and the singer “walking, chatting and laughing” under one umbrella in Mumbai's Mehboob Studios in 1986.

“My father is much younger than Kishore Kumar da. They are fellow Bengalis, so there was a real connection there. Kishore da had a lot of love for my dad. I've seen him singing in my father's recording room. So, I've been very lucky that way,” Shaan said.

“That was the first and only time I saw him, and it was in 1986. He was in black kurta and silk lungi, I watched him at a recording in Mehboob's studio, two glasses apart from a distance. I wish we had taken a photo, but that didn't happen,” Shaan added.

The singer, known for hits such as "Deewangi Deewangi", "Chaand Shifarish", "Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh" among many others, admitted that he was nervous before the tribute concert last Thursday as he understands the connection audience still has with Kishore.

“For them, it's not just nostalgia, it's a companion, a source of inspiration, songs that they kind of connect to so many moments in their lives,” he said.

The concert saw Shaan perform on a medley of songs like ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas', ‘Neele Neele Ambar Par', ‘O Mere Dil Ke Chain', ‘Chingari Koi Bhadke' and 'Aa Chal Ke Tujhe'.

Held at the NMACC, the Kishore Kumar tribute show is presented by NR Talent & Event Management.