A young tawaif from Benares arrives in late 19th Century Kolkata. She wins over the city with her undeniable 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 we can’t afford to forget Gauhar Jaan. Not when we owe so much to her. “Gauhar Jaan popularised light Hindustani classical music with her thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, bhajan, tarana renditions, and also mastered the technique of condensing performing the elaborate melody Hindustani classical style to just three and a half minutes for a record. Without her efforts Hindustani Classical music wouldn’t have had even the handful discerning listeners that it has now,” says theatre personality Bhadra Basu, who will stage a play based on Gauhar Jaan’s life today at Minerva theatre.

On November 11, 1902 a hotel room in Calcutta was converted into a makeshift studio. Gauhar Jaan, who must have been aware of the enormity of the occasion, 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. “But that’s not the only reason why we should remember her. In my play, Jaan-e-Kalkatta, 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 in Calcutta. They owned a house in central Kolkata (near Nakhoda masjid) which was valued at Rs 40,000 in those days,” says Basu.

Gauhar Jaan recorded a total of over 600 songs over the period from 1902 to 1920, and she sang in more than ten languages.  “But equally dramatic was her decline,” insists Basu. Towards the end of her life, Gauhar Jaan was selling her bandishes for as little as Rs 1.

Jaan-e-Kalkatta, chronicles Jaan’s life keeping in mind the socio-political scenario of those times. “Kolkata nostalgia is an important theme of the play. We talk about a city which was hub of all social activity of not only the city, but also the sub-continent. People had a deep knowledge of music and theatre in this city, and Gauhar Jaan was one of the most consummate products of such a milieu,” says Basu. The idea of making a play on Gauhar Jaan occurred to Basu when she was in the middle of another creative project. “I was making a documentary on Hindustani classical musicians called Sangeeter Gunijan for Doordarshan a few years ago. That’s when I came across her, and I realized that one can’t do justice to her in a half-an-hour episode. She deserved something more,” says Basu.