Though legendary singer Kundan Lal Saigal had rendered 185 songs, the word among his ardent fans is that 170 songs have survived the test of time and the rest lost.
However, a Saigal fan here, M.V. Surender, has managed to collect 172 songs. This is not all. He has even launched a website ( > kundanlalsaigal.com ) containing songs and other interesting nuggets about the great singer's life and career. Within a month, the website received 30,000 hits.
“The website was launched as an open internet collaborative research project to document and celebrate the works of Saigal. I appealed to those visiting the site to contribute and the response was overwhelming,” Mr. Surender said.
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The website soon grew in size, as visitors started contributing long lost songs of other great artists as well.
Collaboration of fans
In the process, the website now hosts a vast array of works of the immortal trio of K.L. Saigal, K.C. Dey and Pankaj Mullick. Thanks to the collaboration of fans worldwide, Mr. Surender has now close to 190 songs out of the 493 songs composed and sung by K.C. Dey, mentor of renowned composer S.D. Burman and uncle of singer Manna Dey.
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The site also boasts of rare songs of music director Mullick, who introduced playback singing in Indian cinema.
“Saigal has fans everywhere and his fans urged me to complete the collection. A doctor from Virginia, Manohar Lal Kapoor, contributed many songs of Mullick. People started sending their collections and opinions to me.”
The website has attracted fans from various backgrounds. “Even Prince Rama Verma of Travancore has contributed to this website. I did a lot of research to find out that K.L. Saigal performed a Persian ghazal written by poet Saib Tabrezi. This is a collaborative work of persons who admire the work of great artists,” Mr. Surender noted.