| Names |
Kundan Lal (K.L.) SAIGAL |
| Date of
Birth |
April 11, 1904 – Jammu, J&K, India. |
| Date of
Death |
January 18, 1947 – Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
|
| Identity |
Indian Actor and
Singer |
| Special
Achievements / Events |
- He is considered the first superstar
of the Hindi film industry.
- He was born at Jammu where his father
Amar Chand was a tehsildar at the court of the Raja of Jammu
& Kashmir.
- As a child he occasionally played the
role of Sita in the Ramlila of Jammu.
- Dropped out of school, he started
earning money by working as a railway timekeeper.
- Later, he worked as a typewriter
salesman for the Remington Typewriter Company, which allowed
him to tour several parts of India.
- Hindi film industry was earlier centered in
Calcutta during Saigal's time, but is currently centered in Mumbai.
-
While in Calcutta, his close friend Meharchand encouraged him to pursue his
unique singing
talent.
-
Soon he met various musicians and contemporaries
who all were highly impressed by his singing and acting talent.
Meanwhile, Indian Gramophone Company had released Saigal's record
containing a couple of Punjabi songs composed by Harishchandra Bali, who
thus became Saigal's first music director.
-
Saigal picked up Bengali very well and acted in seven
Bengali films, produced by New Theatres.
- After hearing Saigal,
Rabindranath Tagore gave his consent for the first time to a non-Bengali
singing his songs.
-
In December 1941, Saigal moved to Bombay to work
with Ranjit Movietone. Here he acted and sang in a number of successful
films.
|
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