Kundan Lal Sahgal (1904-1947)

When the legendary singer-actor, K L Sahgal passed away on 17 January 1947, it was as if Hindi cinema had lost its golden voice. Sahgal has been acclaimed as a great singer-actor whose glorious voice turned music into emotional poetry of the soul.

Kundan Lal Sahgal was born in Jammu in 1904. His basic training came from a Sufi Pir Salman Yusuf. He imbibed musical skills from a variety of sources including folk and kirtan singers, sadhus and fakirs. Later he became a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan of Baroda.

Sahgal's advent on the music scene occurred in the early 1930s. Jhulna Jhulao (1933) was perhaps his first recording. With the release of Chandidas in 1934 he became the leading star singer of pre-independence India. After Chandidas came Yohoodi ki Larki, Karwan-I-Hyat, Pooran Bhakt, Devdas, Dhoop Chhaon, Dena-Paona and President. He sang in many languages including Bangla, Punjabi and Persian. Each song he recorded became an all-time hit, but he is remembered most for his haunting Jab dil hi toot gaya, Hum jeeke kya karenge from the movie Shahjehan.

Sahgal’s acting career resulted in hits like Surdas, Tansen, Bhanwara, Tadbir, Omar Khayyam, Shahjehan and Parwana. When he was at the peak of his career, his name was enough to ensure success of a film.

Sahgal, who set the musical mood of his audience for nearly a quarter of century, was the first playback singer whose work never appeared subservient to that of the composer. B.N Sircar paid a tribute to the genius of the man through The Immortal Singer – a film on Sahgal’s life made in mid-1950s. What immortalises his music is its eternal appeal – the heart-rending quality of his songs.