K. L. Saigal

Kundan Lal Saigal (1904–1947) was an Indian singer and actor whose expressive recordings and film performances helped shape early Hindi cinema and playback singing.

Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya: A celebrated Saigal song from the 1946 Hindi film Shahjehan, composed by Naushad. Its plaintive delivery became one of the defining examples of Saigal’s late film singing.
Playback singing: A film technique in which performers mime songs recorded earlier by singers. Saigal worked during the transition from actors singing live on camera to standardized prerecorded playback.
Jammu: A city in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, where Saigal was born. Saigal’s birthplace anchors the early life that preceded his career in Calcutta and Bombay.
Pankaj Mullick: An Indian singer, composer, and music director associated with New Theatres and early sound cinema. Mullick and Saigal worked within the same studio culture that joined Bengali and Hindi film music.
Mukesh: An Indian playback singer known for his Hindi film songs and distinctive expressive style. Mukesh was often compared with Saigal and acknowledged his influence on his early singing.
Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Hi Jaye: A thumri associated with Wajid Ali Shah and widely popularized through Saigal’s recording. Saigal’s recording made this older composition central to his musical legacy.
New Theatres: A Calcutta film studio founded in 1931 that became a major center of Indian cinema. The studio produced many of Saigal’s important early films and cultivated music-led filmmaking.
Calcutta: The capital of West Bengal, historically known in English as Calcutta and now officially called Kolkata. Saigal moved to Calcutta, where New Theatres gave him a major platform in films and recordings.
Rai Chand Boral: An Indian composer and music director who helped establish film music at New Theatres. Boral composed for Saigal’s early films and helped define the studio’s musical sound.
Kishore Kumar: An Indian playback singer and actor who became one of Hindi cinema’s most prominent voices. Kishore Kumar described Saigal as an early idol and initially modeled aspects of his singing on him.

Linked from 5 pages