Mumbai: Veteran actress Leena Chandavarkar, also known for being legendary singer Kishore Kumar's wife, shared an unknown fact about the stalwart singer and his love for ‘paan’ but being against tobacco, ‘chuna’ and all other ingredients of the ideal post meal freshener. 

Leena who along with son Sumit arrived on the sets of music reality show Indian Idol as a special guest for the episode dedicated to Kishore Kumar, revealed some unknown stories of the singing icon.

During a fun conversation, host Aditya Narayan brought up one of Kishore Kumar's most memorable quirks arriving at a recording studio wearing one slipper and one ladies' sandal.

When asked about the unusual incident, Leena Chandavarkar smiled and admitted that Kishore Kumar often did things in his own unique way.

She then went on to reveal another lesser-known habit of the legendary singer. Leena shared, "Woh paan sirf patta khaate the. Jo Calcutta ka paan ka patta hota hai na, ek patta khaate the. Matlab usmein andar choona nahi, tambaaku nahi, supari nahi, kuch bhi nahi. Gulkand bhi nahi. Kuch bhi nahi woh uske Khilaf the, bas woh sirf paan ka patta khaate the."

(He would only eat a plain paan leaf. You know the Calcutta paan leaf? He would simply have one of those. There was no lime, no tobacco, no betel nut, nothing at all inside it. Not even gulkand. Nothing. In fact, he was against all of that. He would just chew a plain paan leaf)

Talking about Kishore Kumar, the singer remains one of the most celebrated playback singers in the history of Indian cinema.

He was not only an iconic singer but also an accomplished actor, music composer, lyricist, producer, director and screenwriter.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, the stalwart singer lent his voice to thousands of songs across multiple Indian languages, with evergreen classics such as 'Roop Tera Mastana', 'Mere Sapno Ki Rani', 'Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas', 'O Mere Dil Ke Chain', 'Yeh Shaam Mastani', 'Rimjhim Gire Saawan', 'Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si' and 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' amongst many others.

As an actor, Kishore Kumar starred in memorable films including 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi', 'Half Ticket', 'Padosan', 'Jhumroo' and 'Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein'.

(IANS)