Google Doodle Gives Musical Sensation KL Saigal Pride of Place

KL Saigal sang 200 film and non-film songs that continue to enthral music lovers to this day.

Google pays a tribute to legendary Indian singer-actor KL Saigal with a doodle on his 114th birth anniversary. Born on 11 April 1904 in Jammu, Kundanlal Saigal was considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry. He sang 200 film and non-film songs that continue to enthral music lovers to this date.

Today’s Google doodle, designed by Vidhya Nagarajan, shows KL Saigal singing with the background of Calcutta (now Kolkata), where the Hindi film industry or ‘Bollywood’ was based during his time.

KL Saigal reportedly dropped out of school and started working as a railway timekeeper, before moving on to sell typewriters. Following his passion for music, Saigal relocated to Calcutta, where he got his first break with film studio New Theatres on a contract of Rs 200 per month.

Eventually, Saigal’s style of singing and power of expression took film music to unprecedented heights.

Saigal’s Memorable Songs

• Ek bangla banenyaara (President)
• Jab dil hi toot gaya (Shah Jehan)
• Diya jalaao (Tansen)
• Dukh ke ab din (Devdas)
• Babul mora nai har chhooto hi jaaye (Street Singer)
• So jaa rajkumari sojaa (Zindagi)
• Nukhtacheen hai ghame dil (Yahudi ki Ladki)
• Kisne sab yeh khel rachaya (Dhartimata)
• Rain gayee ab mera savera (Bhakta Surdas)
• Jo beet chuki so beet chuki (Pujarin)

KL Saigal became an inspiration for his illustrious successors, including Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, and Mukesh.

Saigal ventured into films during 1931-32. He became the most popular actor-singer for Indian films between 1935 and 1947. Having entered films at the dawn of the talkie era, he acted in 36 feature films – 28 in Hindi, seven in Bengali, and one in Tamil – during the fifteen years of his career.

His Films

• Devdas
• President
• Mohabbat Ke Ansu
• Subah Ka Sitara
• Street Singer
• Bhakt Surdas
• Zinda Lash
• Dushman
• Meri Bahen
• Karodpati
• Chandidas
• Lagan

Mohabbat Ke Ansu was the first film in which Saigal acted, followed by Zinda Lash and Subah Ka Sitara, they were all released In 1932.