 4-CD Saigal collection
 Chennaionline.com has made arrangements for online sales of a special 4-CD exclusive pack of K L Saigal, India's first Superstar.
Over a 100 years after he was born; over 50 years after he breathed his last, his voice still reigns supreme. Still evokes the same passion; still symbolises his sheer mastery of music.
The actor-singer, the legend with the golden voice, Kundan Lal Saigal was a colossus who ruled the silver screen of India, and left on it a stamp of aura and charisma that still remains in tact. Having created the very grammar of film singing in the 1930s, he set standards that decades after him are yet to be matched.
 Hindusthan has launched an exclusive 4 CD collection of K L Saigal’s memorable film songs, ghazals and
geets.
The 4-CD pack comes at a cost of Rs 800. Order here for door delivery in whichever part of the world you may be.
The compendium of songs released in this album is to present afresh a bouquet of Saigal’s songs. Two of the CDs are of his evergreen film songs, one is a ghazal compilation and the fourth is a mix of geets and bhajans. All the songs are digitally improved without affecting the ‘Saigal’ touch.
Finally, this album is a monument to a relationship between a genius and a facilitator. Hindusthan feels that it facilitated the flowering of a genius which the world has savoured and enjoyed for 70 years and will continue to do so for many more years to come.
Born on April 4, 1904, the legendary K L Saigal passed away at the young age of 42 on January 18, 1947, while at the pinnacle of his fame.
The unique accomplishments of this unparalleled genius are elucidated below, especially to enlighten our younger generations, that K L Saigal is:
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The first and the only singer in the world to be heard daily at a particular time viz. 07.57 a.m. to 8 a.m. from Radio Sri Lanka for the last 47 years.
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The first ever superstar of the Indian cinema who was the highest paid during his time.
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The first Indian to become the most popular singer in his time - nearly 15 years.
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*The first non-Bengali to be honoured to sing Rabindra Sangeet, with the blessings of Gurudev
Tagore.
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The first to popularize Ghazals in India.
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The first to introduce natural acting in the Indian cinema. In fact, Saigal used to live his roles in the feature films.
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The first Indian cinema star who was excellent both in singing and acting - a unique accomplishment during his time.
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The first cinema star considered indispensable despite his illness during the last years of his life in the films.
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The first versatile Indian singer each time offering something different e.g. 'Nuqta Chain Hai - 'Layee Hayat', 'Prem ka Hai Is Jug Mein', 'Ash Ko Chahiye', 'Kisney Yeh Sub Khail', 'Main Kya Janoon Kya. Jadoo Hai', 'Nainheen Ko Raah Dikha Prabhu', 'Aye Qatib- Taqdeer', 'Jab DU Hi Toot Gaya', 'Ab Main Kah Karoon', and so many other songs prove this point beyond any doubt.
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The first ever Indian to be top singer and top actor most popular in India and abroad in Afghanistan, Iran, Kuwait, Nairobi, Tangiers, Jakarta and Fiji and many other countries despite lack of media and travel facilities in those days of the British rule.
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The first superstar most of whose films did well at the box office and out of 25 films none was a flop.
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The first to be cast as the leading male star in all his films.
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The first ‘cult figure’ of Indian cinema, whose voice singularly influenced the evolution of film song. Thus, music today is mainly responsible in making a feature film a box office hit.
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The first to bring about the tradition of royalty on songs.
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The first singer in India whose very first record 'Jhulano Jhulao' sung in Asavri Ghandhari, created history.
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The first to introduce the Recitative viz., the union of song and speech.
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The first cinema star and singer to sing a song for children e.g. 'Ik Raje Ka Beta'.
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Unlike the singers of today, Saigal had hardly any support from the orchestra, especially in his earlier songs like 'Babul Mora', sung in pure Bhairvi, right in the open outdoor, with the sound equipment mounted on a truck trailing alongside. The song is popular even today.
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Anyone who tried to imitate Saigal, could not match his versatility and the quality of his voice.
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Is the only top singer and top actor in the Indian cinema who neither gave playback to anyone nor received it during his lifetime in spite of failing health.
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Saigal had to fight against heavy odds from his early days when his father was hostile to his interest in singing.
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Was recognised in Bengal, the land of Gurudev Tagore, where he had to compete with great singers like Pankaj Mullick, K C Dey and Pahari
Sanyal.
Saigal and Hindusthan
 Events in history have caused a partial eclipse over the very unique relationship that Saigal shared with Hindusthan - a larger-than-life image on cinema and the fact that he was and continues to be India’s only actor-singer, has obviously 'muted' the role of the label, which brought his voice to the public.
In the birth centenary of the artiste, Hindusthan paid its homage to the genius with the release of a 4-CD album. At the same time, this seems to be the appropriate occasion to draw attention to a relationship which spanned the entire career of the artiste.
At the beginning, in 1932 itself, much before his film debut in 'Pooran Bhagat' and 'Chandidas', Saigal had sung a number of non-film songs on the Hindusthan label. Songs like 'Jhulano Jhulao', 'Hori Ho BrijRaj', 'Panchi Kaha Hota Udas', and 'Duniya Men Hoon' were already proclaiming the arrival of a great artiste on the music scene. That the film songs from 'Pooran Bhagat' in 1933 to 'Parwana' released in 1947 after his death were also released by Hindusthan is also pertinent to his links with the label.
Saigal's bond with Hindusthan was personal and built on the deep feelings he had for Sri Chandi Charan Saha, the founder of
Hindusthan.
Much could be written to bring out the affection and esteem that they had for each other. But it may be argued - which artiste made it a condition that his songs could only be brought out by Hindusthan? This in spite of all the blandishment offered by the competition in the form of a motor car and a flat in Bombay. Saigal’s assertion was that he had ‘given’ his voice to
Chandibabu.
Chandibabu introduced the royalty system for all future releases of Saigal and this paved the way for royalties to become the standard of payment for recorded music in India. Until then no artiste in India had been paid on royalty basis.
 Saigal expressed his genius as a singer, lyricist and composer by the non-film songs released by Hindusthan. Some were Ghazals in. Urdu, Punjabi, Persian and Hindi. Some were geets on Holi, bhajans and devotionals. In this compilation, one CD of Ghazals and the other of geets have been included to illustrate his varied genius.
Saigal made Hindusthan his ‘home’ where he experimented and perfected his skills as a complete artiste. His non-film Bengali songs still bear the stamp of his class even in a language not his own. After hearing him sing one of his compositions, Tagore is said to have remarked that even he could not have sung it with so much feeling.
Even the film songs were recorded for gramophone records at Hindusthan’s studio. This practice was followed till an optical transfer machine was imported by Hindusthan. The release of a set of LP records in the 1960s by HMV created a misinformation that the songs belonged to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. A marketing arrangement enabled HMV to release a set of LPs. The ownership of the songs continued to reside with Hindusthan as it does to this day along with his favourite harmonium.
R Rangaraj
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