Jab dil hi toot gaya, hum jee ke kya karenge ~ the evergreen hit still reverberates at street
corners. This song which immortalized Kundan Lal Saigal reigns supreme in this era of Indi pop, jazz and remix. It is the one golden voice that cannot be imitated successfully. The heartthrob of yesteryear was brought “alive” again on an evening dedicated to his memory, titled “Dastaan-e-Saigal”, at Gurgaon off the national capital. The legendary artiste was born again. For all his admirers who gathered to commemorate his 106th bith anniversary, the event threw up many unknown facets of the artiste.
“No other artiste is missed the way Saigal is, even 63 years after his death,” said Nalin Shah, veteran film music historian, who presented the unique programme of live commentary and audio-visuals on Saigal. In a gripping narration, Shah depicted how the artiste began his journey and shot to stardom. “He was the kind of artiste who never lived for money. Once he was invited by a big industrialist to perform at a private function and offered a then whopping sum of Rs 25,000. He turned down the offer as he never liked to perform at private functions.
“On the same day when he rejected the lucrative proposal, he attended the marriage of a guard in the jhuggis of Bombay and sang there all night,” said Shah, who interviewed Saigal’s driver, daughters and many other associates during his long years of research. Saigal was born on 4 April 1904 in Jammu and later shifted to Punjab to complete his schooling. He worked in various cities before coming to the film industry. In 1932, he joined New Theatres in Calcutta where he debuted in the film,Mohabat Ke Ansoo. Three years later came Devdas that made him a household name. His songs, Baalam Aye Baso More Man Men and Dukh Ke Ab Din Beetat Naahin enthralled the nation.
Saigal’s grandson, Praminder Chopra, son of Bina Chopra, revealed less-known facts about Saigal’s fondness for music. “Many wonder how he got into music. His mother, Kesar Bai, was a religious lady and was very fond of music. She used to take him to religious functions where bhajans, kirtans and shabads were sung in traditional style. From there, his interest in music got generated,” said Chopra, who keeps a low profile.
The humane side of Saigal was brought to the fore by his driver Sami Bashir (nicknamed Paul by Saigal) who was also his personal assistant, in a recorded video interview in 2003. Bashir said in the interview, “Once in 1945, I fell ill. Saigal came to know of it and visited me in the attic of his house. He massaged my legs and I thought it was the servant boy and I told him, ‘Chhokre, aaste daba (Boy, press mildly).’ But later I realised it was Saigal and immediately remarked, ‘Maalik, aap kya kar rahe ho?’ (Good Lord, what are you doing?). And Saigal said, ‘You are a human being like me. I am doing the same thing that you would have been doing had I been ill.’” Paul, who died about four years ago, told Nalin Shah several incidents about Saigal and said, “Wo to insaan nahin, devta the” (He was not a human but a divine being.) At the time of this incident, Saigal was the most famous star of Indian cinema, adored by millions. During the ceremony, former information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe presented the KL Saigal Award to Nalin Shah, whose programmes on singers andcomposers of the bygone era on Vividh Bharati Radio became immensely popular throughout India, and Harmandir Singh “Hamraaz”, who is the author of a unique compendium of all songs of the legendary singer titled Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya. Both personalities have become the first recipients of the award, instituted by Saigal Sangeet Sarita.
Harmandir, who was honoured for his extraordinary work, said, “Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya was published in 2004 which was the birth centenary year of KL Saigal. The compendium comprises detailed information on his songs, films along with some rare photographs. He had sung 185 songs and worked in 39 films. There are more than 100 rare pictures from films, family, events, contemporaries etc.”
Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, who had jokingly said she wanted to marry Saigal in her childhood, was also influenced by Saigal’s style of singing. “When I was kid, I heard only two artistes. One was my father and the other was KL Saigal. I used to hear him a lot and learnt how to sing film songs,” said the melody queen, who dominated Hindi film music for six decades, in an audio clip played by Shah.
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