K. L. Saigal 119th Birth Anniversary: Born on April 11, 1904 in Jammu to Amar Chand Saigal and Kesar Kaur, legendary vocalist Kundan Lal Saigal would have celebrated 119 years of life had he been alive. Saigal, the third of five children, sang alongside his mother, who would chant bhajans and kirtans at home. However, his father, a tehsildar in Jammu, believed that it would be detrimental to his reputation. However, he conceded that Kundan could sing and partake in Ramleela, and Saigal played Sita in Diwan Mandir Rangmanch. (now Sanatan Dharma Natak Samaj). Once, his performance as Sita in Ashok Vatika was so impressive that the audience demanded a repeat of the same scene, which was reenacted.
Saigal accompanied his mother on these trips to the River Tavi to bathe and seek the blessings of Pir Baba Salman Yushuf. And at that time, Pir Baba blessed Saigal and foretold that he would become a distinguished singer. After retiring, Amar Chand returned to his birthplace of Jalandhar and began working as a contractor. Even though Saigal worked menial jobs in Jalandhar, he never lost his passion for music. Saigal’s two Muslim friends, Mohammad Saleem and Mohammad Razzaq, his constant companions and admirers, assisted him in taking advantage of opportunities to perform in public concerts. During one of these performances, he encountered the renowned music director Pandit Harish Chandra Bali, who was quite impressed by his voice and played a pivotal role in Saigal’s later years in Calcutta.
Saigal’s father informed him one day that he must be able to provide for himself. This was the moment when he decided to flee Jalandhar. Along with his companions Razzaq and Saleem, he travelled to Delhi, where he briefly worked as an electrician before joining Military Engineering Services as a shift assistant and settling in Delhi Cantonment. Here, he met Pahari Sanyal, who would later become a singer-actor at New Theatres.
Being agitated, Saigal was in constant motion. With the assistance of his older sibling Ramlal, he joined the Railways as a timekeeper at the Delhi Railways Station. After his brother’s transfer to Moradabad, Saigal followed him there. Following his brief stay in Moradabad, he returned to Delhi, where lady fate awaited him. Saigal was introduced by chance to Rai Sahib Raghava Nanda Gautam, a music lover who had founded the National Amateurs Dramatic Club in Simla. On Vasant Panchami, Saigal sang in an evening soiree at Gautam Saab’s home. He recognised Saigal’s potential as a singer and asked him to accompany him to Simla. Saigal quit his administrative position and moved to the summer capital of the British Raj. Gautam Saab was a prominent officer in the Department of Central Commerce. Gautam Saab ensured that Saigal landed a position at the typewriter company, Remington, while he was performing in the Club’s plays and learning the intricacies of music from the Club’s music composer, Professor Homi.
To sell typewriters, Saigal required extensive travel. Customers could be won over by his kind and affectionate demeanour and wonderful sense of humour. After some time, he was transferred from the Simla office of Remington to the Kashmere Gate office in Delhi. During one of his travels, he ran into Pandit Harish Chandra Bali in Kanpur, a man Saigal had known since his Jalandhar days. And he was a true mentor to Saigal, having recognised his singing talent. He advised him to travel to Calcutta and meet with BN Sircar of New Theatres, who was known for fostering young talent. As Panditji was also about to depart for Calcutta, he promised Saigal that he would introduce him to RC Boral, the music department director at New Theatres.
In 1931, Saigal met BN Sircar while recruiting for an assignment. Sircar was not startled to see Saigal in his office, as he had heard him sing at the Jalalabad home of his film’s Punjab distributors. Sircar informed Saigal that New Theatres only produced silent films, so how could he use his singing talent? However, Saigal persisted and approached Sircar once more when New Theatres’ first talkie, Dena Pavna, was released in Bangla. Pandit Harish Chandra Bali introduced Saigal to RC Boral at this time. Boral was so impressed by Saigal’s spontaneous singing that he recommended him to Sircar, and Saigal signed a five-year, Rs 200-per-month contract with New Theatres.
Saigal released his first film, Mohabbat ke Aansu, on January 16, 1932, but it was a failure. His subsequent two films with New Theatres, Zinda Laash and Subah ka Sitara, encountered a similar fate. Debki Bose’s Chandi Das in Bangla, which Sircar directed, was a smash success, so he was not unduly perturbed by this serial failure. After this success, Sircar entrusted Bose with the Hindi direction of Pooran Bhagat. Boral requested Bose to film four bhajans featuring Saigal as a street performer, despite the fact that Saigal did not have a role in this film. These bhajans became immediate hits as a result of the decision. Sircar was also eager to adapt Chandi Das into Hindi. So, the cameraman of the original Bangla version, Nitin Bose, was asked to direct the film. Saigal played the principal role of Chandi Das alongside Uma Shashi, and his songs ‘Tadpat beetey din rain and Prem ki jai ho’ and ‘Prem Nagar mein basheinge ghar’ with Sahshi became popular. Chandi Das propelled Saigal to fame.
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His most distinguishing role, however, was still to come. Saigal sang two numbers in PC Barua’s classic Devdas, an adaptation of the Bangla novel by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Barua himself performed the principal role. Barua was astounded by two of Saigal’s compositions, ‘Kaharey jey jaratey chain’ and ‘Golap hoye kothook photey. In the Hindi adaptation of Devdas, he offered the main role to Saigal, along with Jamuna and Raj Kumara. These two melodies composed by Kidar Sharma, ‘Balam aye baso morey man mein’ and ‘Dukh ke din ab beetat nahin,’ in addition to the thumri, ‘Piya bin aawat nahi chain,’ remain popular even today. Now, Saigal was on his way to superstardom.
Saigal, a bilingual musician, could sing and speak Bangla as fluently as any Bengali. In addition, he was the only non-Bengali to whom Gurudev Tagore granted permission to sing Rabindra Sangeet. Saigal’s filmography included twenty Hindi and Urdu features, seven Bangla films, and one Tamil adaptation of Devdas. In addition, he played a cameo role in Dulari Bibi, a three-reel short film produced by New Theatres, and he was highly regarded by prominent directors Nitin Bose, PC Barua, Phani Majumdar, and Hem Chandra.
Later, BN Sircar also held Saigal in high regard, stating, “Saigal was not attractive. Nevertheless, he became prominent. He was not flamboyant, but he was authentic and genuine. A man dies in his legends, but Saigal would linger on through his songs and performances.
And his son Dilip Sircar stated, “New Theatres and Kundan Lal Saigal were destined to be together. Saigal gave New Theatres a succession of enormously successful films, including President, Dharti Mata, Zindagi, Lagan, Streat singer, Dushman, and Meri Behan. He was the ideal New Theatres singing star.”
In 1941, Saigal decided it was time to relocate to Bombay and he changed his base of operations. In three films produced by Ranjit Movietone, Bhakt Surdas, Tansen, and Bhanwa, he played multiple roles. And Bhanwra was directed by his companion Kidar Sharma, who had written Saigal’s Devdas’ dialogues and lyrics. In an interview with an author, he stated, “I am who I am today because of Saigal Saab.” Other noteworthy films by Sharma include Kurukshetra, Omar Khayyam, Tadbir, Shahjahan, and Parwana.
Saigal’s 15-year film career was cut short on January 18, 1947, when he passed away in his birthplace of Jalalabad. However, his voice became immortal and his critical acclaim endured forever. Babu Rao Patel, the editor of Film India and the ‘father of film criticism’, penned, “Saigal was the world’s most emotional male vocalist. His music emanated from his heart and captured the souls of his audience.
Saigal’s life and music may be encapsulated by one of his performances from the Bangla film Parichay, composed by RC Boral: Jakhon rabona ami din hole abashan. Amare bhuliya jeo mone rekho mor gaan. (When at the end of the day I am no longer present, remember my song but ignore me.)
