Kajjanbai

Jahanara Kajjan, popularly known as Kajjanbai or Miss Kajjan, was an Indian singer and actress born on February 15, 1915, in Patna in British India.

Her mother was Sugganbai (also called Suggan Begum), a renowned singer and courtesan from Lucknow, and her father was Nawab Chammi Saheb of Bhagalpur. Kajjanbai received early education at home, where she learned English and Urdu, and she was trained intensively in Hindustani classical music by Ustad Hussain Khan of Patna.

She also studied ghazal, thumri, and poetry, and wrote poems under the pen name “Ada,” some of which were published in Urdu magazines.

She began her career as a stage singer in Patna, where she was hired by a theatre company and performed for three days at Rs. 250 per show, enchanting audiences with her mellifluous voice.

She became a popular star of silent films and the reigning queen of Agha Hashr’s stage plays in the 1920s and early 1930s. Along with Master Nissar, she formed the most sought-after singing pair of stage and film, and together they became a symbol of on-screen romance in Indian cinema.

The advent of talkies revolutionized her career when she appeared in India’s second talkie film, Shirin Farhad (1931), which featured 42 songs sung by her. The film’s immense success made her a household name and established her as India’s first female superstar at just 16 years old.

She followed this with another superhit, Laila Majnu (1931), again opposite Nissar, and later starred in Indrasabha, a film with 71 songs that still holds the world record for the most songs in a film. Kajjanbai acted in nearly 50 films, including Bilwamangal, Shakuntala, Alibaba Aur Chalis Chor, Aankh ka Nasha, and Zahari Saanp.

Jahanara Kajjanbai was known as the “Nightingale of Bengal,” the “Lark of Hindi Cinema,” and the “Beautiful Nightingale of Bengal Screen”. She was a fashion icon and trendsetter, often called the “Powder Girl” because her photograph adorned powder ads in London and appeared in The Crisis (New York, 1928).

She learned Western dancing, was a regular visitor to the Calcutta Club, and mixed freely with the elite. She lived a lavish life in Calcutta, fond of pets, and even kept two tiger cubs for some time.

Her personal life was colourful, with romantic relationships involving several co-stars, including her theatre director and leading man Fida Hussain and actor Najmul Hassan. She stopped singing in 1930 but continued starring in movies.

Tragically, her life ended on December 20, 1945, in Bombay at the young age of 30, leaving behind a legacy as one of early Indian cinema’s most celebrated performers.

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