Jehanara Kajjan
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Jahanara Kajjan (15 February 1915 – 20 December 1945), or "Miss Kajjan", was an Indian singer and actress active during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, often referred to as the "Nightingale of Bengal".Orsini 2006: 272 The reigning queen of early talkie films, glamorous movie sensation, the trained classical singer, the fashion icon and the trendsetter, she was known as "Lark of Hindi Cinema", "The Lark of India" and the "Beautiful Nightingale of Bengal Screen". She along with Master Nissar made most sought after and popular singing pair of the stage and film. She was a popular star of silent films. She was one of the top leading ladies of the 1930s along with actresses like Bibbo, Devika Rani, Durga Khote, Sulochana, Mehtab,
Shanta Apte Shanta Apte (1916–1964) was an Indian actress-singer who worked in Marathi language, Marathi and Hindi cinema. Renowned for her roles in films like ''Duniya Na Mane/Kunku'' (1937) and ''Amar Jyoti'' (1936) under the Prabhat Films banner, she w ...
, Sabita Devi, Leela Desai and Naseem Banu. She was referred to as "one of the most important female stars of the 1930s and 1940s". Her fame had her featured in the lyrics of a popular song from the film ''Gharib Ke Lal'' (1939) sung by Mirza Musharraf and Kamla Karnataki, with music by Sagheer Asif and lyrics by Rafi Kashmiri. "Tujhe Kajjan Kahoon Ke Shanta" (Should I call you Kajjan or Shanta), where Santha Kumari referred to another popular actress of the time. This was the first time a song featuring famous actors was used in the lyrics of a film song.


Early life

Born on 15 February 1915 to Suggan begum of
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
who was very famous for her beauty and singing capabilities and the Nawab Chammi Saheb of Bhagalpur. Kajjan received education at home and learnt English. Well versed in Urdu literature, she wrote poetry under pseudonym “Ada” she received training in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Hussain Khan of Patna. She was hired by a theatre company at Patna. Then she joined Alfred Company owned by Madan Theatres of Calcutta. Kajjan attained name and fame as a very popular singer and actor of the stage.


Career

The advent of talkies in 1931 brought a revolution in Film industry
Madan Theatre Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or Madan Theatres in short, was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji & his partner Kanhaiyalal Kaushik, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema. History A young Parsi pe ...
of Calcutta, “Shirin Farhaad” based on the stage play scripted by the renowned playwright Agha Hashar Kashmiri. It featured 42 songs by Kajjan and Nissar, already popular singing pair of the stage. The film got overwhelmed success across India with Kajjan emerging as the first superstar of Hindi cinema then came another super hit “Laila Majnu”, followed by “Indrasabha” based on the play written by Agha Hasan Amanat, it had 71 songs, the film still holds the world record as “film with most songs”. The film with duration of three and half hours was entirely in verse and Kajjan sang several songs, it became a blockbuster.. . Some of her other memorable movies were "Bilwamangal", "Shakuntala", "Alibaba aur Chalis Chor", "Aankh ka Nasha", "Zehari Saanp", etc. By mid 1936 her relation with Seth Karnani owner of Madan theatre deteriorated and she left Madan theatres and she had to face a legal case by Karnani which ruined her she had to sell her mansion in Calcutta and all of her property so she left calcutta in early 1938 and Made her own Thaetrical company Jahanara theatrical company and decided to present her famous old shows with less duration and some new settings, she spent 60,000 rupees in those days on a stage project and started doing shows in all over India started from lahore, Amritsar, multan, Delhi and Bombay but her health started to fall so she along with her Mother Suggan bai had to settle in Bombay and started working in bombay film Industry Kajjan's career in Bombay was short-lived from 1941 to 1944, during which she appeared in seven films mostly of Ranjit films, sunrise pictures and Minerva films none of them made big for Kajjan with the exception of
Sohrab Modi Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', ''Sikandar (1941 film), Sikandar'', '' ...
's '' Prithvi Vallabh'' in which she was given a character role Further, she was given character roles so she could not made it big in Bombay. Her films in Bombay were Ghar Sansar, Suhagan, Bharuthari, Prarthna, Merchant of Venice and her last was Ranjit films Mumtaz Mahal in which she played Empress Noor Jahan. She lived a lavish life at Calcutta. She even had two tiger cubs as pets. Kajjan had learnt western dancing and was a regular visitor to Calcutta Club, it is said that she was intimately involved with Najmul Hassan, a popular Star in 1930s. She died of Cancer in late December 1945 at a young age of 30. Starting her career from stage, she moved to films, joining J. J. Madan's Madan Theatres. Two of her early Talkies becoming instant hits, ''
Shirin Farhad Shirin Farhad or Shirin Farhaad may refer to: * A version of the classic Persian story of Khosrow and Shirin * Shirin Farhad (1931 film), ''Shirin Farhad'' (1931 film), an Indian musical film directed by J.J. Madan, the second Indian film with soun ...
'' (1931) and ''Laila Majnu'' (1931) both Madan Theatre productions. Her co-star in the two films was Master Nissar and the duo became popular singing sensations, with Kajjan being known as "the lark of India". Her mother was a
tawaif A ''tawaif'' () was a highly successful courtesan singer‚ dancer‚ and poet who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. Many tawaifs (" nautch girls" to the British) were forced to go into pro ...
with important connections. Kajjan was the daughter of the courtesan Suggan and a Nawab of Bhagalpur. Jahanara was educated at home, where she learned English and
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
; she wrote poetry, some of which was published. She received a classical music training from Ustad Hussain Khan. She began appearing on stage in the years when women were first allowed to perform in the Indian theatre. Aside from acting, she and Ghulam Mohammed also taught
Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...
when the latter was young, making her do ''riyaz'' up to 12 hours each day.PTV World News Later she also mentored and trained Rehana in acting and dancing. Kajjan stopped singing in 1930, however, she continued to star in movies such as ''
Shirin Farhad Shirin Farhad or Shirin Farhaad may refer to: * A version of the classic Persian story of Khosrow and Shirin * Shirin Farhad (1931 film), ''Shirin Farhad'' (1931 film), an Indian musical film directed by J.J. Madan, the second Indian film with soun ...
'' and ''Layla Majnun'' opposite Nissar, becoming a symbol of on-screen romance in the
cinema of India The cinema of India, consisting of Film, motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various #Cinema by language, film indus ...
.


Notable films

''
Shirin Farhad Shirin Farhad or Shirin Farhaad may refer to: * A version of the classic Persian story of Khosrow and Shirin * Shirin Farhad (1931 film), ''Shirin Farhad'' (1931 film), an Indian musical film directed by J.J. Madan, the second Indian film with soun ...
'' (1931), the second Indian Talkie to be made, was released two months after the landmark
Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...
, which released on 11 March 1931. The story centred on a folk-legend from the Shahnama, and was already a success on the Parsi stage. J. J. Madan adapted it to film form with Master Nissar and Kajjan playing the lead roles. According to author Gooptu, the film "created a box-office record". It was "twice as successful" compared to Alam Ara, and had 17 (out of the 18) songs sung by Jehanara Kajjan and Master Nisaar. * ''Laila Majnu'' (1931) * '' Indrasabha'' (1932) * ''Bilwamangal'' (1932) * ''Zehri Saanp'' (1933) * ''Sakhi Lutera'' (1934) * ''Rashida'' (1935) * ''Miss Manorma'' (1935) * ''Mera Pyara'' (1935) * ''Regeneration'' (1936) * ''Shaitan Ka Pash'' (1936)


Personal life

She was in a relationship with actor Najmul Hassan, a popular Star in 1930s but after few months they were parted.


Death

Kajjan died in 1945 in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
.


Songs

* ''Kahe Neha Lagaye Sajania'' * ''Tumhare Darshan Ko Naina'' * ''Ek Dhundla Sa Mohabat Ka Hai Naqsha'' * ''Aya Sawan Aja Sajan'' * ''Kookat Koyalia''


Filmography


Film


References


Sources

* *


External links

*
Indian Cinema Database
at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kajjanbai 1915 births Indian silent film actresses 1945 deaths 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian women classical singers Actresses in Bengali cinema Indian courtesans Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Bengali actresses Indian female models Indian women classical singers Indian women ghazal singers