Sharad Dutt

The immortal voice: The echoing memories of KL Saigal on his birth anniversary

Guest article by Sharad Dutt as a tribute to KL Saigal on his 116th birth anniversary (4 April 1904 to 18 January 1947)

(KL Saigal is the most towering actor-singer of our films. He was a part of our daily lives courtesy Radio Ceylon which made it a daily ritual to end its programme on old film songs with a Saigal song at 7.57 am. He has been omnipresent on SoY too, though without the need for that kind of formal reminder. It is amazing that with less than 200 songs in all languages, including film and non-film songs, he has achieved such immortal fame. I wanted to have a post on him in the SoY’s tenth year, and no one could do it better than Sharad Dutt, a recognised expert on Saigal and old film music in general.

There is hardly a serious follower of old film music who is unaware of Sharadji. His body of work is enormous. Besides a biography of KL Saigal, he has written an authoritative biography of Anil Biswas, and he is about to complete the biography of the lyricist Shailendra. He has made over three hundred short films on literary and music personalities. After 50 years in the AIR and Doordarshan he joined a private TV channel where he hosted a number of interviews. Currently, he is engaged in video documentation of old film music, and he writes a weekly column every Sunday in the Millennium Post on old film music.

I am very grateful that in spite of his busy schedule Sharadji agreed to write this tribute to Saigal on his 116th birth anniversary. – AK)

KL Saigal_courtesy Kidar SharmaFrom 040404 to 040420 one hundred sixteen years have passed. On 4th April 1904 a couple, Tehsildaar Amarchand and Kesar Kaur, were blessed with a son in Jammu. Everybody was joyous in the family. They named him Kundanlal Saigal. Saigal became the greatest singer of the 20th century. Today is hundred sixteenth birth anniversary of the legendary singer KL Saigal, and I am very happy to pay my tribute to him on Songs of Yore. (Wikipedia and many sites mention 11 April 1904 as Saigal’s birthday, but Sharadji is sure from his research that it is 4th April. – AK)

Saigal’s mother Kesar Kaur took the newly born baby boy to her spiritual Guru Pir Salman Yusuf. Pir Baba blessed her son and prophesied that the child would become a reputed singer. When Saigal grew up he started singing bhajan, kirtans at his home with his mother. His father Amarchand was dead against music but he allowed his son to act in Ram Leela. Saigal used to play the role of Sita in Deewan Mandir Rang Manch (now Sanatan Dhram Natak Samaj, Jammu). Once his act of Sita in Ashok Vatika was so spectacular that the audience wanted an encore of the same scene which was re-enacted.

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Down the memory lane with ‘Anil Da’

Wishing Merry Christmas to all with guest article by Sharad Dutt concluding Anil Biswas Centenary Celebrations

(SoY celebrated 2014 as the Centenary Year of Anil Biswas with a guest article by his daughter, Shikha Biswas Vohra on the New Year Day, remembering him as a father and a maestro. This was followed by singer-specific posts on his songs for Lata Mangehskar, Suraiya and Parul Ghosh, and Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Surendra and Anil Biswas himself as a singer. One might think that Anil Biswas has been discussed enough. And some readers speculated last month whether there would be some more in the series during the rest of the year. Anil Biswas Centenary Series deserves a befitting finale, and I conclude the year, wishing Merry Christmas to all with this guest article by Sharad Dutt, an eminent radio/TV personality for nearly 50 years, who was among the closest persons to Anil Biswas during his Delhi years, which resulted in a 4-part short film on him and his biography ‘ऋतु आये ऋतु जाये’ – the only so far.

Anyone who followed old film music during the Golden Era of AIR and Doordarshan cannot but be familiar with the large body of work by Sharadji. He is the one who made all those short films on music personalities you would have seen on DD: KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Khemchand Prakash, Surendranath, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Naushad, Noorjehan, Roshan, Mukesh, Salil Chaudhary, and many more, besides Anil Biswas I mentioned earlier. He has produced about 100 documentaries on literary, political and film personalities. He has written a biography of KL Saigal too, besides Anil Biswas – both earning prestigious awards.

After retirement as Deputy Director General of Doordarshan, Sharadji is busier than ever in his second innings as Director of P-7 News. He is presently working on video documentation of Hindi film music since its beginning, and biography of poet-lyricist Shailendra. I am grateful that in spite of being neck-deep in work, he accepted my request to write this piece, with special emphasis on Anil Biswas’s association with the artistes of 30s and 40s. – AK)

Anil Biswas with Sharad DuttI was barely ten, when I first heard the song Seene mein sulagte hain armaan, ankhon mein udaasi chhayi hai. At that age I could not comprehend the meaning of the song, nor had I the courage to ask somebody. In those days, it was not becoming for a middle class kid to have undue interest in movie songs. I did not know then how the songs were composed, who were the music directors and what their role was in the making of the song, but I found the music so enchanting that I would croon it every day. There was one more song which I found really captivating. It was Jeevan hai madhuban, tu isme phool khila.

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