Kundan Lal Saigal (1904-1947) was an Indian actor and singer. He is considered the first superstar of the Hindi Film Industry. He was hailed as “Shahenshah-e-Mausiqi” (Emperor of Music) and recognized as the ‘King of Ghazal.’ The status he achieved in the field of singing is the result of informal learning only. ‘Devdas,’ released in 1936 was a landmark film in his career, giving him iconic status. He sings in 6 different languages. In his short 15-year career, he worked in 36 films and sang 185 songs in various languages.
Wiki/Biography
Kundan Lal Saigal was born on Monday, 11 April 1904 (age 42 years; at death) in Jammu, Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu, British India (now Jammu, India). His zodiac sign is Aries. He took his primary education from Jammu and then enrolled at Prince of Wales College (Now known as Gandhi Memorial Science College), Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India, but he dropped out of studies due to his inclination towards music and singing. Kundan’s mother was very fond of music, and she used to accompany him to religious functions, where he learned the art of singing and refined it through practice. He became a student of Ustad Fayyaz Khan for several years. He died in 1947 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx): 70 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Family
Kundan belongs to a Punjabi family in Jammu region.
Parents & Siblings
Kundan’s father, Amarchand Saigal, was a Tehsildar in the court of Maharaja Pratap Singh. His mother’s name is Kesarbai Saigal. He has 4 siblings, 3 brothers, Ram Lal, Hazari Lal, and Mohendar Lal, and an older sister.
Kundan Lal Saigal (standing on extreme left) with his family
Wife & Children
Kundan married Asha Rani in 1935. Together they had 3 children, two daughters, Nina, and Bina, and a son, Madan Mohan. He adopted Durgesh Nandini, the daughter of his brother who died young. Kundan adopted Durgesh when she was single.
KL Saigal’s wife Asha Rani
KL Saigal’s son, Madan Mohan Saigal, plays the harmonium
Signature/Autograph
Career
Singer
In the early 1930s, classical musician Harishchandra Bali brought Saigal to Calcutta. Saigal moved to Calcutta with his friend Mehrchand Jain, where he recorded several discs of Punjabi songs written and composed by Harishchandra Bali. These songs were released through the Gramophone Company of India. ‘Yahudi Ki Ladki’ is Teater Baru’s first film in which Saigal lent his voice. He sang ‘Nuktacheen Hai Ghame-Dil,’ a Ghalib Ghazal and several other songs, which made the film a hit.
Jewish movie poster Ki Ladki
In the same year, another film, ‘Puran Bhagat,’ was released. In this, Saigal sang four bhajans, which created a sensation across the country and made him a star. In 1935, he lent his voice to songs written by Rabindranath Tagore such as ‘Ek Tuku Chhoa Laage,’ and ‘Tomar Binaye Gaan Chhilo Aar Aamar.’ In 1937, he sang the song ‘Ek Bangla Bane Nyara’ in the movie ‘President’, which became popular across the country and brought him recognition in every household.
In his short career, he sang 185 songs of which 142 were film songs, and 43 were non-film songs. He sings in Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Punjabi, Pashto, and Persian.
Actor
In Calcutta, Saigal met RC Boral who hired him for New Theaters Ltd Calcutta, a film studio owned by BN Sircar. In 1932, ‘Mohabbat Ke Ansu,’ Saigal’s debut film was released; Pramankur Atorthy directs it. In the same year, she appeared in two more films, Zinda Laash, and Subah Ka Sitara. In these three films, his name appears in the credits as Saigal Kashmiri.
New Theater Logo, Roaring Elephant
Sircar BN; proprietor of New Theaters Ltd Calcutta
In 1933, ‘Yahudi Ki Ladki’ was released. He used the name KL Saigal in this film.
Scenes from Jew Ki Ladki (1933)
In the following years, several films like ‘Rajrani Meera,’ ‘Dulari Bibi,’ ‘Daku Mansoor,’ and ‘Mohabbat Ki Kasauti’ were released. In 1934, ‘Chandidas’ came which won praise from everywhere. In 1935, he appeared in ‘Devdas’ in the lead role. This was a turning point in his life. He became popular throughout the country and proved himself as the most sought-after actor-singer.
KL Saigal (far left) in Devdas 1935
The advertisement of the film Devdas was released on 6 September 1935
At that time, he started learning Bengali, and he later appeared in several Bengali films such as ‘Sathi,’ ‘Jiban Maran,’ ‘Deshar Mati,’ and ‘Parichay,’ all produced by New Theatre. In 1938, Teater Baru produced ‘Street Singers.’ The Bengali version of the film was made with the title ‘Sathi’ in the same year.
Street Singers (1938) starring KL Saigal & Kanan Devi
By 1941, Bombay had become the center of filmmaking in India, and Saigal also turned to the millennium city. By this time, he was already a star. He later appeared in many films like ‘Tansen,’ ‘Dushman,’ ‘Lagan,’ ‘My Sister,’ and ‘Shahjehan.’
Tansen (1943)
KL Saigal’s appearance in Tansen
His last film, ‘Parwana,’ was released in February 1947, a month after his death. In such a short period, he worked in 36 feature films of which 28 were Hindi films, 7 were Bangla films, and 1 was a Tamil film.
Car Collection
He owns an MG Saloon.
KL Saigal MG Saloon car and its manager Paul
Salary/Income
- He received Rs 80 a month when he worked as a salesman at Remington Typewriter Co. His grandson Sumant Batra revealed the fact in an interview.
- He joined New Theaters Ltd Calcutta in 1931, where he received a salary of Rs 200 per month.
- In 1941, he moved to Bombay, where he received a salary of Rs 1800 per month.
- He received Rs 1 lac from Ranjit Movietone Film Studio, Mumbai, for three films (Bhakta Surdas, Bhanwara).
Death
Alcohol gripped Saigal day by day. In his later years, he could not record a song without drinking. As a result, his health deteriorated, and he died at the young age of 42 on January 18, 1947 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
Favourite
- Singers: Faiyaaz Khan, Pankaj Mullick, Pahari Sanyal
- Actor: Khursheed
- Lyricist: Kidar Sharma
- Director: RC Boral
Facts/Trivia
- Amrish Puri is Kundan Lal Saigal’s cousin.
- Lata Mangeshkar was greatly influenced by Saigal. After Saigal’s death, Lata Mangeshkar wanted to keep her harmonium with her but Saigal’s daughter gave her a ring that belonged to Saigal. In her biography, ‘Lata Mangeshkar: In Her Own Voice’, she reveals,
Since childhood, I always wanted to meet Saigal sahib. When I was young, I would have said: When I grow up, I will marry Saigal. Jokingly my father would reply: By then he will be an old man. I would say: It doesn’t matter, I will still marry him.”
- Amrish Puri’s brother, Chaman Puri, had worked with KL Saigal in the film Street Singer.
- KL Saigal did a lot of work before becoming a singer. Earlier, he was a timekeeper at the Railways, then he worked as a salesman at the Remington Typewriter Co. For some time, he worked as a hotel manager while he was in Calcutta.
- Kundan Lal Saigal used to sing and act in Ramlila in his childhood.
- Saigal likes to cook food. Whenever he cooked a Mughlai meat dish, he would bring it to the studio and feed it to his friends
- He was the first non-Bengali singer allowed by Rabindranath Tagore to sing songs based on Rabindra Sangeet.
- Various singers of Saigal’s contemporaries confirmed that KL Saigal’s best quality was that musicians would tune their instruments to his alaap. Usually, the taanpura will first be set to ‘Sa’ or ‘Ma’ by a ustad and then the singer will match the tone or scale to it. But when it comes to Saigal, the studio musicians will wait for him to arrive, they will ask him to give an alaap, and then everyone will tune their instruments with him. He was treated equally with ‘Shiv Ka Naad’
- Many prestigious awards have been named after KL Saigal including the KL Saigal Lifetime Achievement Award; Lata Mangeshkar and her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar were honored with the KL Saigal Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2011.
- The Indian Postal Department issued a postage stamp on 4 April 1995 to honor KL Saigal. Its denomination is 500 paisa.
KL Saigal stamp 1995
KL Saigal stamp first view (1995)
- On his 114th birthday in 2018, Google honored him with a doodle.
Snippet of KL Saigal by Google in 2018
- In the last days of his life, KL Saigal was stuck in the habit of chain smoking and alcohol. He can’t sing a song without drinking 2-3 pints of alcohol.
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
