Kishore’s last song for Rs 15.6 lakh

He has given hundreds of memorable melodies to the Indian cinema but there is still one Kishore Kumar number that remains out of bounds for music devotees . The last composition recorded by the maverick — just three days before his demise in October 1987 — for director Rakesh Kumar’s film,the song Tum hi to ho woh was lost in the archives as the film got stalled. But now,the composition has resurfaced. It was on the auction table on Tuesday evening at The Imperial hotel in Delhi. Estimated to fetch anything between Rs 6.25 and 10 lakh,it surpassed all expectations when it came under the hammer for Rs 15.6 lakh,grossing the highest bid at the Osian’s auction of film memorabilia. The bidder was in the front row — a representative of the Gurgaon-based entertainment centre,Kingdom of Dreams.

It was a sale that had Neville Tuli,founder chairman of Osian’s,all smiles. Much like the final result of the auction that had 149 out of 174 lots sold. “Now,India can proudly say it has the basis of an international-standard market for its cinematic heritage; henceforth,no one will dismiss these items as raddi (garbage). They are collectibles and they have significant financial value,” said Tuli,pointing out that the total sale at the auction was a whopping Rs 69.55 lakh.

One of the prime bidders — Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao — bid for six collector’s items valued at Rs 3.21 lakh. Bidding over the phone,they bought the suede jacket worn by Shammi Kapoor,priced at Rs 88,000.

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The downpour and the power cut had the Capital in a frenzy on the day,but at the auction,most lots had a smooth sale. If a turquoise ring set in silver worn by Farooque Sheikh in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan was sold for Rs 96,000,the famous scarf worn by Shammi Kapoor in Junglee went for Rs 1.56 lakh. A cricket bat signed by Aamir Khan and team Lagaan went for Rs 1.56 lakh,and black-and-white photographic stills signed by the evergreen Dev Anand were sold for Rs 4 lakh.

So,do these positive figures indicate that film memorabilia in India has come to its own? Tuli said,“There is still a significant distance to cover for an in-depth market to emerge and hundreds of galleries and dealers to surface in a legitimate manner.”