NEW DELHI: Veteran film music historians Nalin Shah of Mumbai, and Harmandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’ of Kanpur were feted by former information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe with the first K L Saigal Awards at a function here to mark the 106th birth anniversary of Kundan Lal Saigal that falls on 4 April.
Harmandir Singh has authored a unique compendium of all songs of legendary singer Saigal titled “Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya”. He is also known for several volumes listing all Hindi songs sung till date.
The Awards which have been instituted by “Saigal Sangeet Sarita” founded by singer Dinesh Sharma in 1974 Saigal’s grandson Praminder Chopra (son of Bina) attended the Function.
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Shah presented “Dastaan-e-Saigal”, a unique programme of live commentary and audio-visuals on the life of Saigal. In a gripping story of two hours duration, Shah also illustrated the humane aspect of Saigal’s life through live interviews of persons closest to him. Saigal’s Muslim driver and personal assistant in Mumbai Sami Bashir (nicknamed Paul by Saigal) said in this recorded video interview with Nalin Shah in 2003 that once when he fell ill in 1945, Saigal came up to the attic of his house and started massaging his legs. Assuming it was some servant, Paul kept lying and said “chhokre, aahissta daba” (Boy, press mildly). He realized only some time later that it was Saigal massaging his legs. He immediately got up and asked: “Maalik, aap kya kar rahe ho” (Master, what are you doing?). Saigal said “You are a human being like me. I am doing the same thing that you would have done had I been ill.”
Paul who died about four years ago related several such incidents about Saigal’s humane side and said “Wo to insaan nahin devta thhe” (He was not a human being but a divine being). At the time of this incident, Saigal was the most famous star (The First Super Star) of Indian Cinema, adored by millions.
Saigal was born on 4 April, 1904 at Nawan Shahar in Jammu. Later the family settled in Jalandhar, Punjab. After living in Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), Kanpur and Delhi, Saigal came to Kolkata in 1932 and was employed by B N Sircar, proprietor of New Theatres who gave him a break in the film Mohabbat Ke Ansoo and many other films.
In 1935 the film “Devdas” created a sensation and Saigal became a household name. In December 1941, Saigal shifted to Mumbai and acted in many films including, Tansen, Shahjahan and Parwana. In all, Saigal sung 185 songs in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi and Persian which include 142 film songs and 43 non-film songs. He acted in 39 films which include 31 Hindi, 7 Bengali and one Tamil film.
Saigal died on 18 January, 1947 in his paternal house in Jalandhar (Punjab). Saigal had one son named Madan (Mumbai) and two daughters named Nina Merchant (Mumbai) and Bina Chopra (Delhi). None of his children are alive.
