NEW DELHI: Eminent music director Khayyam, known for music in films like Muzaffar Ali's �Umrao Jaan' and �Kabhi Kabhie' got a
standing ovation as he received the K L Saigal Shikhar... Award for Life Time Achievement at a grand musical soiree here last weekend.

The newly instituted K.L. Saigal Awards... apart from the Savitri awards were presented by the 83-year old Khayyam. The awards were announced by Dr Anita Srivastava, President of the Savitri Vikas Samiti which organising its fourth Annual Grand Musical Event Saaz Aur Aawaz – K L Saigal Night... and Award Ceremony on 20th June 2009 at Sirifort Auditorium.

The Savitri Ratna Award for Life Time Achievement went to Ustad Asad Ali Khan, while the Savitri Alankar Award for Excellence in respective fields was given to author and broadcaster Sharad Dutt; Chief Editor of Pearls News Network S K Tripathi; and eminent journalist and former editor of Lok Sabha Television  B B Nagpal who has also served as Chief of Bureau of the United News of India.

The K L Saigal Pratibha... Award for Young Star was received by actor Amar Upadhyay, who first gained prominence for his role in the teleseries �Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi' and then went on to act in films like �Dhund – the fog' and �Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge'.

The K L Saigal Shikhar... Award for Life Time Achievement has also been given to thespian Dilip Kumar who could not be present due to ill-health, and posthumously to the late epoch-making filmmaker B R Chopra. The Savitri Shree award for creative work was also presented in absentia to senior film Producer and Distributor Raj Chopra.

The Savitri Samman Award was received by Kathak dancer Uma Sharma; author Uma Vasudev, and Singer and lyricist R P Sinha.

The Savitri Shree award for creative work was presented to Director of Film Festivals (Government of India) S M Khan. The Savitri Prakash award went to Sangam Kala Group International President V S K Sood, and World Famous Violinist Ustad Johar Ali Khan.

Maestro Khayyam released the book Amitabh - A Personality... in English and Hindi on the life of the megastar Amitabh Bachchan by 26 year old Siddharth Srivastava who met the star 21 years earlier when he was only five years old in Sirsa town of Allahabad district. The book chronicles the events in the life of the icon in chronological order with the help of photographs to make the book interestingly purposeful. A short clip of shorts from the films of the megastar was screened on the occasion. Young Abhimanyu Srivastava performed as the song �Don' from the film of that name was played.

Shouts of encore and â€?once more' were perhaps the best tribute to the silvery voice of India's actor-singer Kundan Lal Saigal when local artistes rendered some of his songs before an audience that pre-dominantly comprised those born decades after his demise in 1947 at a memorial musical evening here  

Eighty-six-year old singers Ajit Singh and vocalists Bhupinder Singh, and former bureaucrat R P Sinha who is a Musicologist, Composer, Singer, and Lyricist had the audience at Sirifort Auditorium asking for more as they sang some of Saigal's unforgettable songs. And eminent Kathak danseuse Uma Sharma enthralled those who watched in awe as she portrayed through dance five popular songs of Saigal's songs rendered by renowned vocalist Imran Khan. Earlier eminent Rudra Veena Maestro Ustad Asad Ali Khan showed his mastery in finger play as he produced awe-inspiring from the rudra veena.

Oscar Fernandes, General Secretary of the Indian National Congress who was the Chief Guest, said music had no language and was not bound by boundaries of caste and creed. Eminent filmmaker and educationist Sandeep Marwah, eminent Delhi gharana vocalist Ustad Iqbal Khan, industrialist G Sagar Suri, eminent social worker Ruchi Roy, GAIL CMD U D Choubey, thespian Dilip Kumar's brother Aslam Khan, and S Bhattacharya, and Jyoti Kumar from channel P7 were Guests of Honour.

While all the actors and actresses who appeared in the main leads had to sing their own songs after the advent of sound in films in 1931, till background singing became a trend, none rose to the eminence and popularity of Saigal and he is remembered today as the golden voice of his era. Saigal in a life-span of just 42 years acted in 38 films and rendered around 200 memorable songs. In fact, Saigal rendered his own songs even after others began depending on playback singers.

The musical evening was in keeping with the Savitri Vikas Samiti's tradition of propagating Universal Love and Peace through music. The Samiti has in the past dedicated this annual event to great music artistes such as Ustad Baray Fateh Ali Khan (classical singer of Patiala Gharana from Pakistan), Ustad Asad Amanat Ali Khan (Classical singer and actor from Pakistan), Ustad Gohar Ali Khan (Famous violinist) and Bharat Ratna Shehnai Legend Ustad Bismillah Khan.

A Non-Profit, Non-Commercial Organization, Savitri Vikas Samiti... aims to promote Education, different forms of Arts and Culture, and Music and other fields with an objective of over-all social and aesthetic development of the society.