Amrit Manthan (Hindi: अमृत मंथन)

Amrit Manthan (Hindi: अमृत मंथन) is a 1934 Marathi/Hindi film produced by Prabhat Films and directed by V Shantaram. The film starred Chandra Mohan, Nalini Tarkhad, Sureshbabu Mane, Varde, Kelkar and Shanta Apte. The film was the first to use a telephoto lens. The film had a Buddhist theme and its most famous shot was a close-up of a priest’s right eye, something that staggered audiences back then. It was also the first film produced in the new well equipped studio of Prabhat at Pune. The story was based on abolishing the practice of human as well as animal sacrifice to any God or Goddess.

Huge sets and costumes were notable in this film. Chandra Mohan got a break in the Hindi version of this film and became a famous actor. Hindi version of this film was the first Hindi film to celebrate Silver Jubilee. The film was shown at International Film Festival, Venice. Some newspapers in London gave the coverage with the photographs from the film and the studio.

Kamla Jharia‘

Kamla Jharia‘s real name was Kamla Singh. She lived in the palace of the Maharaja of Jharia (a town in Dhanbad district, coal capital of India). Her parents probably worked in the palace in some capacity. K Mallick, who at the time was a very popular gramophone singer, was invited to the palace to sing at the court of Maharaja Shiv Prasad on the occasion of his marriage. The Maharaja was so pleased with his performance that he appointed him court singer in Jharia. It was here that K Mallick discovered Kamla’s musical talent and brought her to Calcutta and introduced her to HMV authorities.

Kamla Jharia sang in Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati and many other Indian languages. At that time no other artist would sing in so many different languages which explains her all India status and popularity. Her singing career spanned over three decades. In 1976, The Gramophone Company of India honoured her with a Gold Disc, as a mark of lifetime achievement. In 1977, during the celebration of the golden jubilee of All India Radio, she was felicitated as one of the living legends who had taken part right from the beginning of All India Radio. Kamla Jharia suffered from chronic asthma for long and passed away on 20th December, 1979.

Jaddan Bai,

Are Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru/Gandhi family, and actor Sanjay Dutt, son of film stars of yesteryear, Nargis and Sunil Dutt, related to each other? Yes, if you believe IMDB, an Internet Movie Database site, owned by Amazon.com, a Fortune 500 company. Jaddan Bai, mother of Nargis,Brahmin family but was abducted by a group of trained tawaifs. Jaddan Bai was born a Hindu, picked from a mela of dancing girls when she was a child and groomed a tawaif. Though Jaddan was born in Benares, she was brought up in Allahabad. Jaddan Bai, became a disciple of noted Thumri singer Ustad Moijuddin Khan and the equally noted Ustad Barkat Ali Khan, younger brother of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Jaddan Bai became a very famous singer, composer, actress and filmmaker and was a good friend of Mehboob Khan who later became Nargis’s mentor.

was born in Benares, around the year 1900. She was rumoured to be the illegitimate daughter of Motilal Nehru and famous courtesan Daleep Bai. Her mother (before she became a courtesan) hailed from a Jaddan Bai had three children from three different men. The story of the union of Jaddan and Mohanbabu is very interesting. Uttamchand Mohanchand belonged to an orthodox Mohyal Brahmin family of Rawalpindi. He was to go to England to study medicine but heard the voice of Jaddan Bai and fell in love with her. His family refused to accept Jaddan Bai as their daughter-in-law but that did not deter him from marrying her and dedicating his entire life to her. Nargis was named Fatima A Rashid by her father but she later adopted the name Nargis for Hindi movies. Jaddan Bai’s two sons from different men, Akthar Hussain and Anwar Hussain became film directors and actors.

Indubala In 1916,

A contemporary of the legendary Gauhar Jan, prima donna of early recordings of Indian music, Indubala (more famously known as Miss Indubala) was the daughter of Rajbala, a circus trapeze artiste. Rajbala married Motilal Bose, owner of The Great Bengal Circus, also known as Bose’s Circus or Professor Bose’s Circus. The marriage was not really accepted by Motilal’s family as he was already married to another woman. Indubala was born in November, 1899 at Amritsar, where the circus party had gone for performance.

The initial plan was to train Indubala as a nurse and she was admitted as a trainee in a hospital in the Pataldanga locality of Calcutta. Indubala did not take fancy to the job and ran away from the hospital, much to the disappointment of her mother, who never wanted her only daughter to be forced into a life of indignity. After this incident Indubala’s musical training started. This also marked the entry of Indubala into the red light world. Amongst her trainers was Gauhar Jan. Apart from music, Indubala also learned etiquette from the elder artiste and developed a close friendship with her. This association provided Indubala with valuable musical knowledge and experience.

Zohra Bai (1868-1913)

Zohra Bai (1868-1913) of the Agra Gharana, or Zohra Bai Agrewali as she came to be known as, was easily the best female singer at the turn of the 19th century. Along with Gauhar Jan, she marks the dying phase of the courtesan singing tradition in Indian classical music. She had her talim from Ustad Sher Khan, Ustad Kallan Khan and Mehboob Khan, the great composers of Khayals and .

Thumris

Known equally for Khayal as well as lighter varieties of classical music, she learnt Thumri and Ghazals from Ahmad Khan of Dacca. Her many records going back to the first 15 years of the last century have not yet been dated, unlike records of some of her contemporaries. It is said that Faiyaz Khan, the greatest Ustad of the Agra Gharana, was influenced by Zohra Bai’s style of singing. The famed Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of the Patiala Kasur Gharana also held her in very high esteem.
Zohra Bai Agrewali – Basant – Tore Jele Jele Ede Ede :  


Zohra Bai Agrewali – Bhupali Tarana :  



Zohra Bai Agrewali – Gaud Sarang – Kajrare Gori Tere Nain :  



Zohra Bai Agrewali – Miya Ki Todi – Allah Jane Jane :  



Zohra Bai Agrewali – Sohni – Dekh Dekh Man Lalchaye :  



Zohra Bai Agrewali – Zila – Koyaliya Kuk Sunave :  

Moujuddin Khan (1875-1926)

Moujuddin Khan (1875-1926), known as the ‘emperor’ of thumri and dadra, was born at Nalagarh in Punjab, and died in Benares.thumri singer like him. Nobody knew his gharana, people used to whisper he had no training, but when he would start a thumri, his superb rendering would sway the entire audience through his singing of a single line. He learnt music initially from his father Ghulam Hussain Khan, then from Bade Dunni Khan, Rahimat Khan and Bhaiya Ganpat Rao. He did not like school and spent more time over music. In 1901 the family settled in Benares, where his father was given a position in the Durbar.

It is said of Moujuddin Khan that India has not produced another

Moujuddin Khan was proficient in pure and light classical music and began to sing in concerts from the age of 15. At a very young age he became addicted to wine and women, and he was also fond of expensive clothes and perfumes.
Moujuddin Khan – Pani Bhareli Kaun Albele Kinare (1908) :  


Moujuddin Khan – Piya Pardes Mora Man Hara (1908) :  



Moujuddin Khan – Phulava Ginat Dar Dar (1908) :  



Moujuddin Khan – Langar Kakariya Jin Maro (1908) :