Kundan Lal Saigal

Saigal's love for Urdu poetry and his obsession with 'Mirza Ghalib' is indeed noteworthy. Of late, many prominent researchers and scholars have opined that Ghalib's prose and poetry are a beacon of legacy which shines like a bright star on the Indian literary firmament.

Though born in the Punjab, Saigal was nurtured and trained in Bengal.

He joined Calcutta's New Theatre, one of the pioneering film-making studios of undivided India, founded by the enterprising and industrious BN Sircar.

Saigal shot to fame for his unmatched singing prowess and was acclaimed as the Golden Voice. His co-star in many films, Kannan Devi, was considered as the nightingale. They formed a formidable combination.

Saigal owes his brilliance to the music composed for him by Rai Chand Boral and Pankaj Kumar Mullick.

The lyrics in films like "Dushman", "Zindigi" and "Meri Bahen" became all-India hits and are even cherished today by musical buffs.

Saigal also acted in PC Barua's Hindi version masterpiece "Devdas" wherein be gave a magnificent performance.

Towards the fag end of his life (he died at a premature age) Saigal migrated to Bombay.

In the by-gone days every aspiring singer used to ape Saigal and the nearest that almost duplicated the great singer was CH Atma, who unfortunately had a short span of life too.