Gauhar Jaan revisited

A young woman,barely out of her teens comes to Kolkata with stars in her eyes. She wins over the city with her singing talent,has the richest nawabs and zamindars as her admirers and then fades into obscurity. Such pages have often wafted carelessly out of history books,but Kolkata can’t afford to forget Gauhar Jaan. Now,theatre personality Bhadra Basu has put together the play Jaan-e-Kalkatta based on her life.

On November 11,1902 a hotel room in Calcutta was converted into a makeshift studio. Gauhar Jaan sang into a huge recording horn which was fitted to a turntable that rotated at 78 RPM. This was the first ever recording in India. Gauhar Jaan went on to record over 600 songs in over 10 languages between 1902 and 1920.

“In my play,I narrate her story through a feminist’s perspective. It’s amazing how Gauhar Jaan and her mother,Malka Jaan,managed to establish themselves as one of the most prominent social figures of the city,” says Basu. He staged the play in Kolkata last week and plans to take it around the country soon.

The play is a musical with the cast performing several of Gauhaar Jaan’s orginal compositions. Classically trained singer,Anandi Basu plays Gauhar Jaan and the music has been composed by Basu.