पुरन भगत और एक आवाज़ का उदय

In 1933 New Theatres' Puran Bhagat gave K.L. Saigal his first national recognition — four bhajans that resounded across India, Boral's classical-folk synthesis, and K.C. Dey's kirtan inheritance: the story of the turning point where Hindi film music found its soul.

When B.N. Sircar founded New Theatres in 1931, his intent was clear — literary seriousness wedded to classical music. The music department was in the hands of Raichand Boral, trained in the Rampur gharana under Ustad Mushtaq Husain Khan. In 1932 Harishchandra Bali brought him a young man — shaped in Kashmir, seasoned in Delhi — Kundan Lal Saigal. Boral recognised the depth of that voice at their first meeting and signed him for two hundred rupees a month.

In 1933 Debaki Bose brought the legend of Puran Bhagat to the screen. Saigal played the title role; alongside him was the blind singer-actor K.C. Dey, whose kirtan tradition was the soul of New Theatres' sound. Boral composed melodies that swayed between classical ragas and folk strains — neither fully courtly nor fully rustic. When Saigal's four bhajans — Din Neeke Beete Jaat Hain, Bhajun Main To Bhaav Se, Avsar Beeto Jaat Praani and Radhe Rani De Daro — reached the gramophone, a hush fell across the country. From Lahore to Calcutta, halls were packed.

Saigal's three 1932 films — Mohabbat Ke Ansu, Zinda Lash, Subah Ka Sitara — had made little impression. Puran Bhagat was also Boral's first hit Hindi film. Chandidas followed in 1934 and then Devdas in 1935, and Saigal's name became legend. But the ground on which that legend grew was prepared by Puran Bhagat's bhajans.