Global & World Music Stars Codexery

Gulshan Kumar

Founder of T-Series, pioneer of India's music boom.

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He was born on 5 May 1956 in Delhi to a Punjabi Hindu family that had fled West Punjab after the 1947 partition.[1] On 12 August 1997, Kumar was fatally shot outside a Shiva temple in Jeet Nagar, Andheri West, Mumbai, which he visited daily.[2]

Making and release

His family later acquired a shop selling records and audio cassettes.[3] He began his own audio cassette operation called Super Cassettes Industries.[4][5] To compete with overpriced tapes, he sold decent-quality cassettes at cheap rates.[5] The 1990 film Aashiqui, produced by Kumar, became a major musical hit.[6][5]

He launched his younger brother Krishan Kumar in the 1993 films Aaja Meri Jaan and Kasam Teri Kasam.[5] The 1995 film Bewafa Sanam, starring Krishan Kumar, became a massive hit for its music.[5] From a young age, Kumar assisted his father, who sold fruit juice on the streets of Daryaganj in Delhi.[1] Kumar helped launch the careers of several singers, including Anuradha Paudwal, Vandana Bajpai, and Kumar Sanu.[5]

What the cited sources add

An iloveindia.com biography states that Kumar began exporting good-quality music cassettes abroad as his business grew.[5] The same source notes that his movies Bahaar Aane Tak and Jeena Teri Gali Mein did not fare well at the box office.[5] The Outlook magazine account states that Kumar told an associate he was on the underworld hit list the day before his death.[7] The Daily Star notes that Merchant was sent to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai after his deportation.[8]

An Amar Ujala article describes Kumar as a devoted follower of Vaishno Devi and states that a free meal service he started in 1983 still continues.[9][10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Khan, "Escaped: True Stories of Indian Fugitives in London", Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2021-03-22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gulshan Kumar shot dead, scare in filmdom The Indian Express, 13 August 2001. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gulshan! Rediff.com, 12 July 1997 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "बॉलीवुड का सबसे विख्यात और 'कुख्यात' म्यूजिक मैन, जिसे मार डाला गया [Bollywood's most famous and "infamous" music man, who was murdered]", The Lallantop (India Today Group), 30 December 2016; "Gulshan Kumar Biography – Gulshan Kumar Profile, Childhood, Life, Timeline", iloveindia.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. "Gulshan Kumar Biography – Gulshan Kumar Profile, Childhood, Life, Timeline", iloveindia.com. facts only, no text reused. iloveindia.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Gulshan Kumar Biography – Gulshan Kumar Profile, Childhood, Life, Timeline", iloveindia.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "The Mafia Calls The Shots", Outlook, 25 August 1997. facts only, no text reused. outlookindia.com
  8. "Daud Merchant lands in jail after deportation", The Daily Star, 11 November 2016. facts only, no text reused. thedailystar.net
  9. "Death of Gulshan Kumar (1997)", Amar Ujala. facts only, no text reused. amarujala.com
  10. Wikipedia, "Gulshan Kumar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Devotion of Gulshan Kumar towards Vaishno Devi", Business Standard India, 16 November 2017; "Death of Gulshan Kumar (1997)", Amar Ujala (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Gulshan Kumar (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Gulshan Kumar die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1997.

From the source: “With its music and film production, the annual earnings of T-Series grew from () in 1985 to () in 1991, and by the time of Gulshan Kumar's death in 1997, had reached ().”

2. In what year was Gulshan Kumar born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1956.

From the source: “Born on 5 May 1956 in a Punjabi Hindu family, Gulshan Kumar Dua was the son of a fruit juice vendor who worked the streets of the Daryaganj neighbourhood in the heart of Delhi.”

3. In which place was Gulshan Kumar born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Delhi, India.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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