Kajjanbai

Jahanara Kajjan
Born	Jahanara February 15, 1915 Patna, Bihar (British India)
Died	December 1945 Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	singer/actress
Years active	1930–1945

Jahanara kajjan (1915–1945), or "Miss Kajjan", was an Indian singer and actress active during the 1920s and 1930s, often referred to as the "Nightingale of Bengal". The reigning queen of early Talkie movies glamorous movie sensation the trained classical singer, the fashion icon and the trendsetter, Jahanara Kajjan she was known as ‘Lark of Hindi cinema’ and the ‘Beautiful Nightingale of Bengal Screen’. She along with Master Nissar made most sought after and popular singing pair of the stage and early Talking Films.

Life

Born on 15 February 1915 to Suggan begum of Lucknow who Belonged to The family of Courtesans associated with The court Of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.Suggqn was very famous for her beauty and singing capabilities .Suggan was in Relationship with the Nawab chammi Saheb of Bhagalpur.As a Result of This Relationship Kajjan was Born But she was never acknowledged By her Father. Kajjan received education at home and learnt English her Mother and Maternal Grandfather were very keen for her education. 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.She Used to publish A urdu Magazine at a Time In Calcutta.

The advent of talkies in 1931 brought a revolution in Film industry Madan Theatres of Calcutta, “Shirin Farhaad” released in April 1931 based on the stage play scripted by the renowned playwright Agha Hashar Kashmiri. It featured many superhit 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 Hassan 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. She Became the Most Popular and Highest Paid Film Actress of India in Early 1930s .There Was a huge Craze for Kajjan in Film goers those Days refered as ‘kajjan Mania'.Many Young Men Committed Suicide for Kajjan.ger fashions were Imitated by Ladies of Elite class. Many Royal prince and influential People Like Ministers were Among her fans.

Famous Millionaire of Calcutta Seth SukhLal Karnani was an ardent Fan of kajjan And Purchased The Entire Madan Theater in 2.4 Million Ruppes way back in 1932 Just To woo Kajjan. He Was Extremely possessive For Kajjan and used to keep an keen eye on kajjan.She was not allowed to Meet anyone without karnani's permission nor anyone was Allowed to Her House. Soon Kajjan Started a feeling imprisoned She wanted a reculse from Karnani's Golden trap. 

By mid 1936 her relation with Seth Karnani took an ugly turn and she left Madan theatres and she had to face a legal case by Karnani which Badly Affected her Career She was not given any Work assignments in Calcutta .Soon her resources started depleting. 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. her Stage Shows were Highly Successful 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 filmsmostly of Ranjit films, sunrise pictures and Minerva films none of them ade big for Kajjan with the exception of Sohrab Modi's “Prithvi Vallabh” in which she was given a character role Further, she was given supporting roles so she could not made it big in Bombay film Industry. 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,She Had many friends From elite class and was very friendly with Westerns . it is said that she was intimately involved with Najmul Hassan, a popular Star in 1930s. She was diagnosed with Cancer and multiple other Ailments and Died in late December 1945 as A result of Multiple Organ Failure at a young age of 30 In Calcutta Soon After Her adeath Her Long Time Lover Karnani Also Died in mysterious Conditions. 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 (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" with important connections. Jehanara was educated at home, where she learned English and Urdu; 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 when the latter was young, making her do riyaz up to 12 hours each day. Kajjan stopped singing in 1930, however, she continued to star in movies such as Shirin Farhad and Layla Majnun opposite Nissar, becoming a symbol of on-screen romance in the cinema of India.

Notable films

Shirin Farhad (1931), the second Indian Talkie to be made, was released two months after the landmark Alam Ara, 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 (1933)

• Sakhi Lutera (1934)

• Zehri Saanp (1934)

• Shaitan Ka Pash (1935)

• Rasheeda (1935)

• Manorma (1936)

• Regeneration (1936)

• Mera Pyara (1936)

Death

Kajjan died in 1945 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.

Songs

• Kahe neha lagaye sajania
• tumhare darshan ko naina
• Ek dhundla sa mohabat ka hai naqsha
• Aya sawan aja sajan
• Kookat koyalia

Films

• Shirin Farhad (1931)
• Laila Majnu (1931)
• Zalim Saudagar (1941)
• Prarthana (1943)
• Prithvi Vallabh (1943)

Sources

• Orsini, Francesca (2006). Love in South Asia: A Cultural History. United Kingdom: Cambridge University.
• "Noor Jahan (The legend of Pakistani Music)". Pakistan Television Corporation World News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2007.

External links

• Indian Cinema Database at the University of Pennsylvania.