Devdas: On-Screen & Off-Screen

A little-known fact about the film industry is that its capital lay not in Mumbai but Kolkata at one point in time. During that era, Kundan Lal Saigal, an actor, and singer, was considered a superstar and one of the first in the Hindi movie industry.

K.L Saigal 1995 stamp of India; Source: WikiCommons

Born in a humble abode in Jammu on April 11th, 1904, Saigal belonged to a Punjabi family. His mother and father had contributed to his love and self-taught talent in music. While Saigal's father would take him in the interiors of the state, where he came in touch with Punjabi and Kashmiri folk music, his mother would take Lal to functions of religious nature where traditional music such as Bhajans and Keertan would be sung.

Kundan, fourth of the five brothers, dropped out of school early and had no formal training in music. However, such was his talent that he could hear and respond to the needs of a singer's musical understanding. The closest he came to a formal teacher was in the form of a Sufi peer named Salman Yussuf.

To make ends meet, while yearning for a singing career, Lal struggled and worked as a time-keeper for the railways and then as a salesman for a typewriter company. When he was working as a manager at a hotel, B. N. Sircar of New Theatre discovered him. He made the acquaintance of R. C. Boral, the music director, who employed him on a contractual basis.

Success didn't come overnight, and his first movie in 1932, Mohabbat Ke Aansoo, failed with two more consecutive films. A year later, Puran Bhagat was released and brought Kundan to the frontstage of the nation. After that, it was an easy climb uphill.

He was established as a superstar in 1935, with P.C Barua's Devdas. He sang "Balam Aaye Baso Moray Man Mein" which was lauded throughout the country and gave traction to Saigal's unique musical style that continues to be a benchmark today.

K. L. Saigal gave many hits after, and the audience would see them only for his songs.

In 1941, Saigal moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) to work with Ranjit Movietone and performed in Tansen and Bhakt Surdas. However, Lal was afflicted with the neurological condition of Alcoholism and would resort to the substance more often than not, leading to many problems both in his personal and work-life and affecting his health.

In 1947, Lal passed away in Jalandhar. The actor-singer who gave 36 feature films in Hindi, English and Tamil, was tributed by B.N Sircar in his film, Amar Sehgal in 1955.