Archive for the ‘K L Saigal Non Film Songs’ Category
Humjoliyon ki thhee toliyaan
Posted on: September 7, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The wondrous characteristic about Saigal Saab is that whatever he sang, it became music. Even the songs with passages of prose and pauses, sound like melodies. His rendition of ‘Piye Jaa Aur Piye Jaa’ from Pujaarin (1936) is a combination of verse and prosaic speech, of a person under the influence of alcohol. It is stated that this song was recorded without any rehearsals. Just the first take is the final version we hear today. Or the song ‘Ek Raja Ka Betaa Le Kar Udne Waalaa Ghodaa’ from President (1937). Combining story telling with singing, it set up a fresh style for children songs. All examples of a gifted artist who would convert words to music.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The films in India started to talk in 1931, and with it came the music and the songs, that are so inseparable from the culture of this country. No matter what part of the country one talks about, music is the flow that nurtures and strengthens the emotional character of the society. And the music immediately became a crucial thread in the talking films, and the films became a pivotal medium for the folk and popular music to prosper. It was with the coming of the talking films that the concept of a ‘music’ industry was born in India.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
It is a well known fact that Saigal Saab did not have any formal training classical music. As a child, he was blessed by and initiated into the practice of riyaaz by Pir Salman Yusuf, a sufi saint in Jammu. This blessing, and the word of his first Guru, led to a secret discipline, which was akin to a pursuit in spiritual internalization. It molded his voice such that his voice gained an unusual musical power – an emotional content that is not generally cared for in formal training. Saigal Saab has this dexterity to make the words glow with music, as he sings. In ghazal singing, his swara’s power the words from within, such that the music does never seem to interfere with the flow of words. It is like a magic. From the lowest note, he can move his voice so smoothly to the higher octaves, without ever becoming shrill even when he touches the highest notes. Throughout the entire rendition, there is a smooth and vivid timbre to the sound that is very pleasant. Nowhere can the listener detect any vibrations, or ‘kampan’.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Saigal, a voice that became still more than sixty years ago, is still regarded as the unvanquished king of Hindi film music. The prodigious voice of Saigal, the Golden Voice as many writers have referred to him, is a wonder that has not since been emulated again. And this person of humble and affable personality, also carried a heart of gold.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The year is probably 1932-33; and the location is Calcutta. Kidar Sharma, a very young and talented poet and writer from Amritsar, about 23 or 24 years of age, is eagerly trying to get a break into the world of cinema. The film Rajraani Meera is under production at New Theatres, and the star cast boasts of such luminaries as Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote and KL Saigal. (Although these became household names a few years hence, in those fledgling years, all these stars were new and still trying to find their feet in the industry).Kidar Sharma writes in his memoirs about his first meeting with all three of them on a single fateful day, as he is trying for an introduction to the powers that be in New Theatres.
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This article is written by Sudhir,a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
It is said that on seeing the film Devdas, famous actor/producer/director V Shantaram, was not satisfied and did not approve of its content and conclusion. His reaction was that no one should throw away his youth and neglect his life, just on account of frustrations in love. In response, V Shantaram produced the film Aadmi (1939), whose tag line is ‘Life Is for Living’. This film is a story of a young man frustrated in love. This young man responds to the failures with determination and faces the life’s challenges boldly, and does not yield to the temptations of drinking.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
A debate that does not seem to garner much attention from critics and music lovers, is about the on screen presence and on screen histrionics of Saigal Saab. The singing voice, which is at once enchanting as well as haunting, is so expressive and overpowering that it overshadows any and all other aspects of this personality. And yet, in the eight decades since the Hindi films started to talk, and after more than ten thousand films having been played on the silver screen, one of the most powerful and everlasting memories is the tragic portrayal of a frustrated ‘Devdas’ (1935). A portrayal that made Saigal Saab a cult figure, and the film a rare and exceptional cinematic experience. And also, the film for which the term ‘musical hit’ was coined, and the film that elevated film songs and film music to a distinct identity.
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Ghar ye tera sadaa na mera hai
Posted on: August 30, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
A diffident soul for most part of his life, Saigal Saab avoided calling or causing any attention to himself in public. BN Sircar (founder of New Theaters, Calcutta), recalls that Saigal Saab would never take himself too seriously. People that he took seriously were the people who were less fortunate than himself. He apparently lived only for music and singing. Everything in life was just for a song. And for his friends. Before he left for Jullundur in the winter of 1946, he met with Phani Mazumdar in Bombay. Phani had produced and directed the film Street Singer, for New Theatres. Saigal Saab told Phani that he wanted to work together again. When Phani Mqzumdar indicated that he may not be able to afford the star of his eminence any more, Saigal Saab promised him that finances would be the least of the issues and that he would take care of it. Leaving Phani Mazumdar to start working on script and start planning for the film, Saigal Saab traveled to Jullundur, in what turns out to be his final travels. For Phani Mazumdar, the story was forever unfinished, for he could never think of completing it with any other star.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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