RMIM Archive Article "14".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: Kundan Lal Saigal
#
# Posted by: "Rajan P. Parrikar" (parrikar@mimicad.Colorado.EDU)
# Source: G.N. Joshi's Down Melody Lane (1984, Orient Longman)
#
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Kundan Lal Saigal
By
G.N. Joshi
From: Down Melody Lane (1984, Orient Longman)
pp. 42-46
The year was 1935 and Kundanlal Saigal was singing at the Allaha-
bad Music Conference. His voice held the huge gathering
spellbound. I too came under the spell. Being at the peak of my
musical career, I had been invited to perform along with several
other noted artists from all over India. Saigal came from Calcut-
ta. He was at that time the uncrowned king of the screen. His un-
forgettable role in Devdas and his poignant rendering of Piya bin
nahee aavat chain had captured millions of hearts.
At the end of his performance, Saigal received a standing ovation
which lasted several minutes. It was impossible for any other ar-
tist to perform that evening after Saigal's tremendous success.
As I came out of the hall, I was greeted by my old friend from
Nagpur, Mr. D. N. Hosali who later introduced me to Saigal. They
were close friends and had travelled together from Calcutta.
Saigal and Hosali were guests of a rich young zamindar and they
insisted that I too should go and stay with them. During dinner,
someone suggested that we should go and have a taste of the gay
musical night-life of the city. The young zamindar was, of
course, familiar with the most reputed joints, and so off we all
drove. In those days, in decent society, music was taboo - it was
considered immoral to learn or listen to music - much more so for
girls. I had heard a lot about the 'mujra mehfil' (song and dance
performances at the client's request) of the dancing girls and my
curiosity was aroused; I was soon slowly following the other
three up the steps of the singing girls' house.
At the entrance we were greeted by a middle aged lady with a
broad smile and the traditional salutation 'Adabaraz'. We walked
into an elegantly furnished chamber, brilliantly lit. The entire
floor was covered with soft, rich coloured woollen carpets and
matresses.
Moments later two young girls, just out of their teens, entered
fram a side room. Having seen the film Devdas, they found
Saigal's presence in person both awe-inspiring and highly pleas-
ing. Saigal's friendly approach and unassuming manner soon
dispelled their awe. An exuberant and intelligent conversation
ensued. It was full of wity and spontaneous repartee in which
these girls are specially trained, and with which Saigal appeared
to be quite familiar. For me, this was a new and revealing ex-
perience, and I watched the scene with interest. One of the
girls approached us with a tray of paanpattis and whcn my turn
came, I was so confused and nervous that the girl gave a
mischievous smile as my trembling fingers lifted the paan. I mut-
tered my thanks, young girls, one was an accomplished singer with
a rich, sonorous voice, and the other was an expert dancer.
Thumri, the most captivating style in Hindustani music, has its
home in U.P. The Banarasi or Purab form of presenting it has no
parallel in light classical music. The dancer used her feet,
hands, fingers, neck, eyes and eyebrows most epressively to il-
lustrate the song. After another item - a Kathak dance - Saigal
and the zamindar paid the girls and we rose to go. It was about
2.30 a.m. when we got back to the zamindar's kothee. It was si-
tuated on he river bank, not far from the confluence of the Ganga
and Jamuna. Cool breezes brought fragrane from the garden below,
while the full moon turned the river milky white. Saigal was in a
happy mood and started humming. The zamindar produced a harmoni-
um which I started playing. Saigal requested me to join him in
singing. Taking the cue from the notes he hummed, I began a thum-
ri in Mishra Khamaj - Mane Nahee Samiya. Instantly Saigal took up
the refrain and then there followed a musical duet. Saigal then
started Babul Mora, his piece de resistane in Bhairavi. The first
rays of the sun heralding the dawn brought us down to earth.
I kept in touch with Saigal, and in the month of December, the
same year, we met again - this time in Calcutta where I had gone
for the Calcutta musical conference. My wife had accompanied me.
Saigal took us home for dinner one evening. We had the privilege
of meeting his old parents. Hailing from the beautiful valley of
Kashmir, they were tall and fair and had a very impressive pres-
ence.
It was at the dinner table that night that I learnt more about
Saigal. Before he made music and acting his vocation, Saigal had
been a time-keeper in the Punjab railways. After that he had
worked for a while as a typewriter salesman. He used to sing only
within his circle of friends. Singing was his hobby. The credit
for discovering Saigal goes to a representative of the Hindustan
Recording Company. He correctly estimated the sales potential of
the young man and bound him down to a life-long contract. This is
why all his non-film songs were invariably issued during his
lifetime, under the Hindustan label, although in later years his
records of film songs appeared under H.M.V. Iabel. (Hindustan
was a sister concern to H.M.V.)
Years rolled by and Saigal continued to reach new heights of fame
and popularity. Entering New Theatres in 1931, he became the na-
tional matinee idol. Chandidas, Devdas, Street Singer and Dushman
were all huge box office successes. He soon migrated to Bombay to
win new laurels.
I, in the meantime, had joined H.M.V. as recording executive. We
met in 1943, in the recording studios. He embraced me and there
were tears of joy in our eyes. Suddenly he asked me question, 'Do
you drink or not?'
I was puzzled and asked, 'Why?'
He said, 'He who does not drink is not a gentleman.'
To this I replied that in that case I was only half a gentleman.
Thereupon I told him about an incident involving the late poet
Mirza Ghalib. An English soldier once asked him, 'Are you a true
Muslim?' Ghalib pondered for a few moments and then said, 'No, I
am only half a Muslim.' He explained that the Muslim religion
forbids the eating of pork and the consumption of alcoholic
drinks. 'I do not eat pork, but I do drink liquor.'
The point of the story was that while I refrained from strong
drinks like whisky and rum, I did enjoy an occasional glass of
beer. Saigal gave a hearty laugh. After that, whenever we were
together I always had a beer while he nursed his scotch. While
working in the Ranjit film company, he frequently came to our
studio to record his songs, always in the afternoon. On arrival
he would come straight to my cabin and put his bottie of scotch
in my table drawer. He knew very well that it was safe with me!
Normally, there would be about half a dozen rehearsals before thc
actual recording. He would have half a peg between rehearsals.
His voice became mellower with each rehearsal, and then would
come a stage that was the ultimate in beauty. It was my job to
catch him on disc at this stage, when every word, every note bore
the stamp of rare and rich artistry. All the songs he recorded
for Tansen, Surdas and Shahjahan became immortal.
One day we ended the session a little early. Saigal came to my
room and said, 'Bhaiyaa, I haven't heard you sing for a long
time, I am not in the mood to go away so soon. Also I have suffi-
cient scotch left in my flask.'
I used to compose tunes in those days. Pandit Indra, a top poet
of the time, was a great friend of mine. Often he would drop in
and we would sit together - I with the harmonium and Panditji
with pad and pencil. Between the two of us we composed a number
of devotional and love songs. That night I sang a few of them to
Saigal.
He was soon to play the role of Surdas in the forthcoming film.
Some of the songs took his fancy. He spoke to Sardar Chandulal
Shah about them. Sardar Chandulal came to our Manager, with a re-
quest to requisition my services. He made a very tempting offer.
However my previous experience in films had not been at all
favourable and I had resolved never to enter films again. So
after a couple of days I thanked them but declined the offer.
Saigal came to me furious and thundering, 'Why are you being so
foolish?' I explained my position to him. To this day I havn't
regretted my decision nor did it affect my relations with Saigal.
I have very vivid memories of the evenings, when we recorded
Madhukar shyam hamare chor, Main nahee makhan khayo (from Sur-
das), Diya jalao (from Tansen). Listening to these discs I recall
the scenes. Saigal in the centre, flanked by the accompanists,
with music director Khemchand Prakash and myself standing in
front listening with interest.
Saigal used to lose himself completely under the influence of
liquor but he never, even in that state, misbehaved or did any-
thing not befitting a gentleman. He would be very restless if the
alcohol did not have a quick effect on him. One night, after a
late recording session, we were driving home from the studio. As
we neared Parel, he asked if I knew of any place nearby, where he
could have some more booze. He had been drinking the whole even-
ing, so I tried to dissuade him and suggested that we proceed
straight hone. He said, 'Arre Bhai, what's the use of my drinking
the whole day, if I return home sober - all that drink will go
waste.' I dropped him at a hotel at Dadar where, I learnt later,
he stayed the whole night with a bottle of
Saigal's devotion to his work was far above any other artist's.
He had a heart of gold and was a faithful friend. He never turned
away a needy fellow artist. On several occasions, I saw him dig
into his pocket and give away all he had to some unfortunate per-
son.
At night, if I am alone, I sometimes listen to his songs Balam
aavo baso mere man me, Karu kya aasa niras bhayee, So ja
Rajkumari so ja and Piya bin nahee aavat chain. I cannot hear
without a pang his immortal melody Ukha ke din aba bita nahee.
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Rajan Parrikar
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian