Jaddanbai

Jaddanbai
Jaddanbai
Born	Jaddanbai; 1 April 1892; Benares, Benares State, British India ; (present-day Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died	8 April 1949 (aged 57); Bombay, Bombay State, India ; (present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)
Resting place	Chandanwadi Cemetery, Mumbai
Other name	Jayadevi
Occupations	Actress; Composer; Singer; Music director; Director; Producer; Dancer; Writer;
Years active	1897–1949
Spouses	Narottamdas Khatri; Irshad Meer Khan; Mohanchand Uttamchand Tyagi (Abdul Rashid);
Children	Akhtar Hussain; Anwar Hussain; Nargis Dutt
Relatives	Priya Dutt (granddaughter); Sanjay Dutt (grandson); Sunil Dutt (son-in-law); Dutt family

Jaddanbai (1 April 1892 – 8 April 1949) was an Indian singer, music composer, dancer, actress, filmmaker, and one of the pioneers of Indian cinema. She along with Bibbo and Saraswati Devi were one of the first female music composers in Indian cinema. She was the mother of actor Anwar Hussain and the well-known Hindi film actress Nargis, and the maternal grandmother of Priya Dutt and Sanjay Dutt.

Early life

Jaddanbai was born around 1892 to Mian Jaan and Daleepabai.^[1] Mian Jaan died when she was five. Daleepabai was a well known tawaif (courtesan) of Allahabad. Jaddanbai grew up in Calcutta and later approached Calcutta's Shrimant Ganpat Rao ("Bhaiya Saheb Scindia") and became his student. Shrimant Ganpat Rao died in 1920 while she was still a student.^[2] She then completed her training under Ustad Moinuddin Khan, a Hindustani classical singer and thumri specialist. Later she also trained with Ustad Chaddu Khan Saheb, Ustad Laab Khan Saheb and Barkat Ali Khan (brother of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan).^[3]

Career

Her music became popular and she became an even more famous tawaif than her mother.^[4] She began recording ghazals with the Columbia Gramophone Company. She started participating in music sessions and was invited by the rulers of many princely states such as Rampur, Bikaner, Gwalior, Jammu and Kashmir, Indore, and Jodhpur to perform mehfils. She had also rendered songs and ghazals at various radio stations nationwide.^[3]

She later began acting when the Play Art Photo Tone Company of Lahore approached her for a role in their movie Raja Gopichand in 1933. She played the role of the mother of the title character. Later she worked for a Karachi based film company, in Insaan ya Shaitan (1935).^[5] In Naachwali (1934), she introduced her daughter under the screen name Baby Rani.^[6]

She worked in two more movies, Prem Pariksha (1934) and Seva Sadan (1935), before starting her own production company called Sangeet Films; producing, directing, writing, and composing the music. Becoming one of the first female music composers in Hindi cinema. The company produced Talashe Haq in 1935, in which she acted and composed the music. In 1936 she acted in, directed, and wrote the music for Madam Fashion, in which she introduced Suraiya.^[7]^[3]

Personal life

Her first marriage was to a wealthy Gujarati Hindu businessman Narottamdas Khatri ("Bachhubhai" or "Bachi Babu"). Khatri converted to Islam upon marriage and together they had a son, Akhtar Hussain.^[3]

Her second marriage was to harmonium master Ustad Irshad Meer Khan, her harmonium and tabla teacher and a frequent collaborator, with whom she had her second son, actor Anwar Hussain.^[3]

Her third marriage was to Mohanchand Uttamchand Tyagi ("Mohan Babu"), a wealthy heir from Rawalpindi, who converted to Islam upon marriage ^[8] and adopted the name Abdul Rashid. Film actress Nargis (née Fatima Rashid) was their daughter.^[3] She is the mother-in-law of Sunil Dutt and maternal grandmother of Priya and Sanjay Dutt.^[9]^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1933	Raja Gopichand		Debut
1934	Prem Pariksha
1934	Naachwali
1935	Talashe Haq	Feeroza
1935	Insaan Ya Shaitaan
1935	Seva Sadan
1936	Madam Fashion	Sheela Devi
1936	Hriday Manthan
1943	Taqdeer

Composer

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1935	Talashe Haq	Composer	Becomes one of the First Female Music Composers in Indian Cinema (after actress Bibbo, who composed the music for Adal-e-Jahangir in 1934.^[11])
1936	Madam Fashion	Composer	She acted in the film
1936	Hriday Manthan	Composer
1937	Moti Ka Haar	Composer	Writer, director

Writer

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1935	Talashe Haq	Writer	She also acted in the film
1936	Madam Fashion	Writer	She acted in the film
1936	Hriday Manthan	Writer	Screenplay
1937	Moti Ka Haar	Writer	Screenplay
1949	Darogaji	Writer	as Bai Jaddan Bai

Director

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1936	Madam Fashion	Director	She also acted in the film
1936	Hriday Manthan	Director
1937	Moti Ka Haar	Director
1937	Jeevan Swapna	Director	as Bai Jaddanbai

Producer

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1936	Madam Fashion	Producer	She also acted in the film
1936	Hriday Manthan	Producer	Sangeet Films
1937	Moti Ka Haar	Producer	Sangeet Films
1937	Jeevan Swapna	Producer	Director

References

↑ Bhandari, Bhupesh (2 January 2008). "A family in films & politics". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
↑ "GWALIOR - Royal Family of India". Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jaddanbai". Cinemaazi. Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
↑ Connections Between The Dutt & Nehru-Gandhi Families - Mouthshut Reporting
↑ Avinash Lohana (27 December 2016). "Shabana is Nandita's Jaddanbai". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
↑ Nelmes, Jill; Selbo, Jule (29 September 2015). Women Screenwriters: An International Guide. Springer. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-137-31237-2.
↑ Ranade, Ashok Damodar (2006). Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 978-81-85002-64-4. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
↑ "Nargis One of Hindi cinema's brightest stars, seen through 10 images". Live Mint. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
↑ T. J. S. George (December 1994). The life and times of Nargis. Megatechnics. ISBN 978-81-7223-149-1.
↑ Parama Roy (1998). Indian traffic: identities in question in colonial and postcolonial India. University of California Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-520-20487-4.
↑ "Fairer sex makes a mark in cinema". The Times of India. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

External links

Jaddanbai at IMDb

[1] Bhandari, Bhupesh (2 January 2008). "A family in films & politics". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

[GwaliarFamily-2] "GWALIOR - Royal Family of India". Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.

[:0-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jaddanbai". Cinemaazi. Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 10 July 2025.

[4] Connections Between The Dutt & Nehru-Gandhi Families - Mouthshut Reporting

[5] Avinash Lohana (27 December 2016). "Shabana is Nandita's Jaddanbai". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.

[6] Nelmes, Jill; Selbo, Jule (29 September 2015). Women Screenwriters: An International Guide. Springer. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-137-31237-2.

[7] Ranade, Ashok Damodar (2006). Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 978-81-85002-64-4. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2021.

[8] "Nargis One of Hindi cinema's brightest stars, seen through 10 images". Live Mint. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2025.

[George1994-9] T. J. S. George (December 1994). The life and times of Nargis. Megatechnics. ISBN 978-81-7223-149-1.

[Roy1998-10] Parama Roy (1998). Indian traffic: identities in question in colonial and postcolonial India. University of California Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-520-20487-4.

[11] "Fairer sex makes a mark in cinema". The Times of India. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]