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Kundanlal Sehgal is counted among the early stars of Indian cinema. Kundan got a fame from the lead role of the 1935 film ‘Devdas’. He was also a singer along with the actor. However, his personal life became dependent on alcohol. This deteriorated his health, and his liver became so bad that he could never recover.
He died in January 1947. At that time he was 42 years old. It is also said that they did not have much money. He returned to his hometown Jalandhar and was trying to resume his singing and acting career there.
Please tell that Kundan did many small things across the country. They used to sell sarees and typewriters. He also worked at a hotel in Shimla, but his hobby took him to Kolkata as Kolkata was a big center of film and entertainment at that time.
Kundanlal Sehgal acted in 36 feature films in his career. These included 28 Hindi, 7 Bengali and 1 Tamil film.
New theaters in Kolkata gave him a job of ₹ 200 months In Kolkata, he was signed by a production company named New Theater at 200 rupees a month. Some of his early films did not work, but 1934 became an important year for his career. The song ‘Prem Nagar’ from the film ‘Chandidas’ became a hit.
The very next year he worked in ‘Devdas’, which reached his career and height.
Kundanlal Sehgal sang a total of 185 songs, including 142 films and 43 non-film songs. There were 110 film and 37 non-film songs in Hindi, 30 films in Bengali and 2 non-film songs.
According to The Indian Express, Kundan once told Kidar Sharma – “I am an ordinary man. I have no acting experience. I was the first salesman. The song is my hobby.”
Kidar Sharma wrote in his autobiography- “Sehgal had two hobbies- music and alcohol. One made him and the other ruined him.”
Kidar Sharma also wrote in his book that composer Naushad told Sehgal to sing a song drunk and one consciousness. Later Naushad chose a song sung conscious.
Did not recording songs without drinking alcohol
In 1941, Ranjit came to Mumbai to work with a movietone. He signed a contract with Ranjit Movietone, according to which he was to get one lakh rupees from each film. According to that time, it used to be a huge amount. Here he sang songs from many hit films, but became an alcoholic. It was said that he used to record songs drunk.
Kundanlal Sehgal’s wife’s name was Asha Rani. He had three children and a adopted daughter Durgesh Nandini.
At the same time, Kidar Sharma wrote an anecdote of the sensitivity of Kundan’s personality. At that time Sehgal used to sell saris and typewrites. He used to pass through the house of a poor girl who loved the green sari kept in her box, but she could not buy it.
One day the girl said -“Tomorrow I will have ten rupees, you come.”
Film director, writer and lyricist Kidar Nath Sharma wrote the dialogue of the film ‘Devdas’.
When Sehgal went there the next day, it came to know that the girl was dead. He gave the green sari to her brother so that he could be used in his funeral. He was so saddened by this incident that he stopped selling saris.
Once at a party, Kundan told Kidar Sharma – “Let’s go out, eat fresh air.”
Sharma saw that Sehgal wanted to hear someone’s voice from far away. A blind beggar was singing there. Sehgal was so impressed by his singing that whatever was in the pocket.
He later told Sharma – “I gave him five thousand rupees.” When Sharma expressed surprise, Sehgal said – “Do you think the giver ever gives count?”