Jaddanbai

• Name — Jaddanbai • Other Names — Jayadevi • Birth Name — Jaddanbai • Born — 1 April 1892 • Birthplace — Benares, Benares State, British India (present-day Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India) • Died — 8 April 1949 • Place of death — Bombay, Bombay State, India (present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) • Resting Place — Chandanwadi Cemetery, Mumbai • Occupation — * Actress • Composer • Singer • Music director • Director • Producer • Dancer • Writer • Years Active — 1897–1949 • Spouse — * Narottamdas Khatri • Irshad Meer Khan • Mohanchand Uttamchand Tyagi (Abdul Rashid) • Relatives — Priya Dutt (granddaughter) Sanjay Dutt (grandson) Sunil Dutt (son-in-law) Dutt family • Children — Akhtar Hussain Anwar Hussain Nargis Dutt

Jaddanbai was born around 1892 to Mian Jaan and Daleepabai. 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. 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).

Her music became popular and she became an even more famous tawaif than her mother. 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. 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). In Naachwali (1934), she introduced her daughter under the screen name Baby Rani. 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.

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

• 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.) • 1936 — Madam Fashion — Composer — She acted in the film • 1936 — Hriday Manthan — Composer • 1937 — Moti Ka Haar — Composer — Writer, 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

• 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

Her recorded confession was Islam. 2 children are recorded: Anwar Hussain and Nargis.