He received no orthodox musical training yet he sang his way into perple's hearts. A Sufi mystic, Salman Yusuf of the Yesevi Sect, is believed to have bestowed on him the rare gift of taking music beyond the reaches of tone and rhythm into the realm of meditation and self-realisation. Such was the magic generated by the legendary voice of KundanLal Saigal.
This was the son born on 4 April, 1904 to Amar Chand Saigal & Kesar Devi. His father wanted him to study but Kundan Lai was an indifferent student. The "zikr" & "riaz", imparted by the Sufi pir to whom his mother took him, was what led him to follow his star - he was most truly a "pilgrim of swara". His voice had a quality where one could discern no divide between speech and melody.
He entered the world of films when stand-ing in for an absent singer at New Theaters in 1932. Saigal's rendition was such that he gained not merely acceptance but plaudits from the literary and musical stalwarts of Bengal. The pinnacle of this glory was encomium bestowed by Rabindranath Tagore upon Saigal for his mastery over Rabindra Sangeet.
In the short period upto 1947, Saigal acted in 8 Bengali & 29 Hindi films. In each of them he has left behind a rich musical legacy. His range has covered bhajans, geet, ghazals, children's songs, classical music and Rabindra Sangeet, his voice moving easily with vibrancy and strength from Tansen's "Diya jalao" to the whispered delight of "Ek raje ka beta" from the pure melody in his favourite raga bhairavi "Babul mora naihar chutohi jaye", to such unforgettable cadences as "Soja Rajkumari", "Do naina matware tihare". "Karun kya aas niraas bhayee" and "Jab dil he toot gaya".
Tributes have been paid to him frequently by layman and connoisseur alike. But none has perhaps put it better than two of his famous contemporaries. Pankaj Mullick once said that the sheer facility and naturalness of his singing covered the tremendous effort that he put in. He added hard work to a good voice. "What is happening to Saigal is that over the years he has become, in a certain sense, a musician's musician." Praise indeed, for a man who claimed to know nothing of ragas and had no formal training! Today Saigal is no more, but as Naushad says -
"Naushad mere dil ko yakeen hai yeh mukamal, Nagmon ki kasam aaj bhi zinda hai woh Saigal."
(Naushad swears by his lyrics that his heart is certain that even today Saigal lives on.) Saigal's immortality is truly vested in his magical voice.
The Dept. of post is happy to issue a commemorative stamp on this legendry singer.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India