Kundan Lal Saigal

Kundan Lal (K.L.) Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947) was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centered in Calcutta during Saigal's time, but is currently centered in Mumbai.

The very name K.L Saigal conjures up an image of a superstar who ruled the screens long before people heard of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna. Not many are aware of the achievements of this great persona and his contributions to the Hindi film industry. K L Sehgal was undoubtedly India's first superstar whose charisma and magic is still alive and continues to inspire budding talents. Born in Jammu on April 11th, 1904 as Kundan Lal Saigal, he inspired legends like Kishore Kumar and Mukesh to copy his style to make their mark in the industry before developing their own signature tones. His songs are evergreen and are hummed even today.

In the early 1930s, classical musician and music director Harishchandra Bali brought K.L. Saigal to Calcutta and introduced him to R. C. Boral. R.C. Boral took an instant liking to his talents. Saigal was hired by B. N. Sircar's Calcutta-based film studio New Theatres on a contract of Rs. 200 per month. There he came into contact with contemporaries like Pankaj Mullick, K. C. Dey and Pahari Sanyal.

Meanwhile, Indian Gramophone Company had released Saigal's record containing a couple of Punjabi songs composed by Harishchandra Bali. In this way, Bali became Saigal's first music director. The first film in which Saigal had a role was the Urdu film Mohabbat Ke Ansoo, followed by Subah Ka Sitara and Zinda Laash, all released in 1932. However, these films did not do very well. It was in 1933 that his four bhajans for the film Puran Bhagat created a sensation throughout India. Other films that followed were Yahudi Ki Ladki, Chandidas and Rooplekha. As a youngster, Lata Mangeshkar is alleged to have said that she wanted to marry K.L. Saigal after seeing his performance in Chandidas. In 1935, Saigal played the role that would come to define his acting career: that of the drunken title character in Devdas, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name and directed by P.C. Barua. His songs in the film, Balam Aaye Baso Moray Man Mein and Dukh Ke Ab Din Beetat Naahi, became popular throughout the country.
Saigal picked up Bengali very well and acted in seven Bengali films, produced by New Theatres. Rabindranath Tagore first heard Saigal before giving consent for the first time to a non-Bengali singing his songs. Saigal endeared himself to the whole of Bengal through his 30 Bengali songs.

Saigal's association with New Theatres continued to bear fruit in the successful films Didi (Bengali)/President (Hindi) in 1937, Saathi (Bengali)/Street Singer (Hindi) in 1938, and Zindagi in 1940, with Saigal in the lead. There are a number of songs of this era which form the rich heritage of film music in India. Also, in Street Singer, Saigal rendered the song Babul Mora live in front of the camera, even though playback was becoming the preferred method of singing songs in films.
street singer
In December 1941, Saigal moved to Bombay to work with Ranjit Movietone. Here he acted and sang in a number of successful films. Bhakt Surdas (1942) and Tansen (1943) were hits during this period. The latter film is still remembered for Saigal's performance of the song Diya Jalao in Raga Shuddha Kalyan; in the same movie, he also sang "Sapta Suran,Tin .. Gaa-o Saba Guni Jan". In 1944, he returned to New Theatres to complete Meri Behen. This film contained the songs Do Naina Matware and Ae Qatib-e-Taqdeer Mujhe Itna Bata De.
shahjehan
By this time, alcohol had become a predominant factor in Saigal's life. His dependence on alcohol had begun affecting his work and his health. It was said that he could only record a song after being fortified with liquor. He survived ten years of drinking; however, his alcoholism was too advanced for even a single attempt at abstinence, and Saigal died in his ancestral city of Jalandhar on 18 January 1947, at the age of 42. However, before his death, he was able to churn out three more hits under the baton of Naushad for the film Shahjehan (1946). These are Mere Sapnon Ki Rani, Ae Dil-e-Beqaraar Kyoon and Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya. Parwana (1947) was his last film, released after his death, in which he sang under the baton of Khawaja Khurshid Anwar.The four songs which Saigal sang in Parwana are: Toot gaye sab sapne mere, Mohabbat mein kabhi aisi bhi haalat, Jeene ka dhang sikhaae ja, and Kahin ulajh na jaana. Saigal was survived by his wife Asha Rani (whom he married in 1935); three children, a son and two daughters: Madan Mohan, Nina (born 1937) and Bina (born 1941); and an adopted child, his elder brother's daughter, Durgesh Nandani, whom he adopted when he was still single.

In a career of fifteen years, Saigal acted in 36 feature films - 28 in Hindi/Urdu, 7 in Bengali, and 1 in Tamil. In addition, he acted in a short comedy Hindi/Urdu film, Dulari Bibi (3 reels), released in 1933. In 1955 B.N. Sircar released a documentary film based on the life of K.L. Saigal, Amar Saigal. In the film, G. Mungheri performed the title role of Saigal. The film contained 19 songs lifted from Saigal's films. In all, Saigal rendered 185 songs which includes 142 film songs and 43 non-film songs. Of the film songs, there are 110 in Hindi/Urdu, 30 in Bengali and 2 in Tamil. There are 37 non-film songs in Hindi/Urdu, and 2 each in Bengali, Pashto, Punjabi and Persian. His non-film songs comprise bhajans, ghazals and hori. He has rendered the creations of poets such as Ghalib, Zauq, and Seemab.
Saigal's distinctive singing voice was idolized by the first generation of post-independence Bollywood playback singers, including Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, and Kishore Kumar.