Kundanlal Saigal

Born:11 April 1904

Died:18 January 1947

• He was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Kolkata during Saigal’s time, but is currently centred in Mumbai.
• His unique voice quality which was a mixture of baritone and soft tenor was the benchmark for most of the singers who followed him.
• In fact it remains the gold standard even today shining through a very early and practically primitive recording technology.
• He acted and sang in a number of successful films. Bhukt Surdas (1942) and Tansen (1943) were hits during this period.
• He picked up Bengali very well and acted in seven Bengali films, produced by New Theatres.
• Rabindranath Tagore first heard him before giving consent for the first time to a non-Bengali singing his songs.
• He endeared himself to the whole of Bengal through his 30 Bengali songs.

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