Gauhar: Music for ears and eyes

Gauhar Jaan’s Thumri It is food for the soul, many people believe. One of the earliest female voices of India, Gauhar inspired many Indian singers, especially women, to take up music. A historical figure who left no visual memory, Gauhar, whose face was emblazoned on matchboxes and postcards, can now be felt and experienced the way she once was: a fiery, indomitable spirit who took the Indian music industry by storm.

Indian artist and theater director Lillete Dubey has brought the singer to life in her musical drama. Gauhar’. First staged in 2015, the play has been running for over a decade and has had nearly 80 performances. Adapted by Mahesh Dattani from the book by Vikram Sampat, my name is gauhar jaanThis play is an ode to Gauahar’s announcement made at the end of all her recordings.

Gauhar was one of the first female artists to take advantage of the opportunities that came with the advent of recording technology, Lillet says over the phone. “Her independent lifestyle and spirited nature epitomize the indomitable spirit of the leading women composers of her time. She changed the way Indian classical music was heard, recorded and remembered.”

After her mother converted to Islam, Angelina Yeward became Gauhar Jaan and came to Kolkata with her mother and started singing. Lillet says that she wants to show Gauhar’s life to the world, because her story has the power to influence people.

“With my company, The Primetime Theater Company, I want to provide a platform for Indian writing. I want to showcase rare Indian voices to the world. Not many people know about Gauhar. Combining this with my love for music, I took Gauhar’s lesser-known, fascinating, historic legacy and captured it on stage. She was a trailblazer who broke a huge glass ceiling, and as a woman, that was inspiration enough to do so.”

With a wide repertoire, Gauhar has recorded around 600 songs in 20 languages. Lillet, through GauharHas introduced people to his unique music. “I decided not to use Gauahar’s original recordings in the play because I felt it would be injustice to her voice. The primitive recordings are not in good condition, which is why we took her music, remastered and re-recorded it. All the classical singing in the play is live and we only recorded the soundtrack.”

With a wide repertoire, Gauhar has recorded around 600 songs in 20 languages. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

It was not easy for Gauhar to balance her personal life and career as an artist. Lillet believes that this situation has not changed even today. “A female artist has to handle her family, her personal life, career and one of them usually has to suffer losses. Men don’t have to go through such things. Gauhar had an unhappy personal life. Many female artistes also have to go through the same thing she went through. That impressed me.”

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Very few people remember Gauhar today. Lillet says this is both a challenge and an advantage. “Portraying a historical figure on stage is a challenge. Fortunately, no one remembers what she was like. There are only written words. So there is creative freedom to create her character from scratch. Pia Benegal’s costumes, Salim Akhtar’s set and design, and Uma Dogra and Pooja Pant’s Kathak choreography give the play an evocative period texture and old-world charm.”

Mostly in English, with a little Hindi, Gauhar Presented by Girija Oak and Neena Kulkarni, the production includes Danny Sura, Rajeev Siddharth, Varun Narayan, Gillian Pinto and Akanksha Kadre.

Gauhar It will be staged on January 17 at Prestige Center for Performing Arts at 7 pm, book tickets on myshow.