Posts Tagged ‘1940’
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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Bahut us gali ke kiye here phere
Posted on: August 27, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
In her memoirs, Kaanan Devi, the premier leading lady of the films in the 1930s, recounts her times and experiences of working with Saigal Saab. As a singer-actor team, this duo has worked together in many Hindi and Bangla films produced by New Theatres, Calcutta, and there is treasure of memorable music these two have created together. Kaanan Devi writes about his simplicity and a childlike disposition that endeared him to one and all. She tells about his unmindful and forgetful nature, especially when engrossed in music. There would be times when the shooting is to start, the preparations are all in place, the unit is ready, and people are waiting for Saigal Saab to come. Sometimes he would be very late, and there was no information where he is. Then someone would come and tell that Saigal Saab has been in the studio for a long time, but away from the hustle bustle of the shooting location, he is sitting in some lonely corner, or alone in a room, with a harmonium, and is simply singing away to his hearts fulfillment. Then someone or the director would find courage to go and remind him about the schedule, and then he would come running, profusely apologetic, and in good humor trying to get the schedule move forward.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
In his life, and in his death, Saigal Saab remains a mystery. Not much is known about his years of wandering, and then the immediate success as a singer-actor in Calcutta, somehow defies the normal course of understanding life’s events. He was just as he was.
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As I discover more songs of ‘Bandhan” (1940), I cannot but help feel that this movie must have stolen the heart of the movie goers during its time and Leela Chitnis would have become a heart throb of public, in case she was not one already. What a lovely performance from her in this movie. In this movie, she plays a playful and cheerful girl who is forever prepared to play a prank or too.
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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