And at a time when it was unheard unknown that a woman could direct a movie, she went on and established her own production house and Begum Akhtar. Of course, we all know what a performer she was. She had a very interesting life where the notion of respectability made her leave the profession and only when her husband's fortunes were dwindling that she was cajoled and coaxed back into a performer's life
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 0:50
Thank you, Madhur, for this very interesting post. So the idea of beautiful women who are well versed in the arts and bound to no single man emerges in Hindu mythology. In the references to upsaras quotasans have also appeared in Buddhist texts as well. Even when Islam came to India, cortisans thrived in their roles as tabayas and played a very important role in the rise of Indian music and dance
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 0:57
So, given that this must have been very liberating at the time, especially for women, the way she democratized music by really bringing it to all, I was wondering why you think there's so little that's written or spoken about artists like her. Why is that the case? I I really look forward to hearing your response and reading your book, and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done reading it. Thanks again for this conversation
Thank you so much, Madhur, for this deep dive into the contribution of Courtesans in the field of Indian showbiz. Especially the stories of Gauhar Jaan and Jaddan Bai in your book really stood out because they represent a larger narrative of empowerment and breaking of societal barriers
mannya nayar
@shesalliwannabe · 0:28
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for bringing this light and making the world know that art is contemporary. Art is beautiful, and art is something that's performed by it's performed by everyone. Putting your art out is not safe. It's a matter of expressing yourself. So thank you for letting us know. Thank you for representing us women who are down upon for just expressing themselves. Thank you so much
madhur gupta
@Madhur_Gupta · 4:08
But it is also not feasible to say that they were also sleeping around with whomsa and so on and so forth. To put it in context, they were the heroines of their times. So they were the Dipaka pathukones and they were the sharia rise of their times. So they, of course, dated patrons. And it was a very matrilineal culture that they had. They did not really want or they not really had the need of having a husband, so on and so forth
madhur gupta
@Madhur_Gupta · 2:44
Hello, Karan. Good to hear from you. You have a beautiful voice. So to answer your question, why very less is written and documented about these women entertainers or artists in general is, like I said, artists in general. We people are living on the periphery of the main society that there is the economics of how one works. So very few people in the society and large, I mean, in comparison, care about arts in that way, that much
madhur gupta
@Madhur_Gupta · 3:06
Hello, Ramya. Thank you for asking this very, very unique question. So the impact that these women had was very long lived. And we can still feel the ripples even now. So, for example, Goharjan after she recorded one of her first discs and it hit the millennial mark, I mean, the purple discs were introduced. I'm not remembering very correctly, but her discs became bestsellers. And so, after witnessing the success of her music, there were several other women entertainers
madhur gupta
@Madhur_Gupta · 0:12
Thank you for your appreciation. I hope you will like reading the book and knowing more about these women artists and hoping to see you in one of my concerts at some point
But with all respect for your work, which, as I earlier said, that I am very fascinated by but I do wonder that, as we know that history is always written by the victor. So did these women, did they choose to be in these professions or were they not even given an option? Were they happy doing what they were doing? Were they happy to be at the receiving end of something which, as you have so beautifully said, was a divine wise? I don't know
madhur gupta
@Madhur_Gupta · 4:12
Hello, Wandanaji. Thank you so much for your very thoughtful question. Kiahe the women not covering the upper part of their body, I don't know if my book mentions that or not because I don't know if I dealt with the costumes of the women. Kotathans So voto MATLAB hani Mary bookme but Pharbi agarapni Puchah to jahatak mera samaji samajmataheki joe blouses because Jahiya janta lora mejo. I don't think neither men nor women covered their upper body so much
I know this is nothing at all to do with your book. But since we are talking, I thought I'll share this with you also and if you ever find something of interest in this area and also of any parallels of Dev Dasis and other cultures, it would be interesting to talk about it. So do share if you have any thoughts on this or if at some point you find something on this. So all the best for your research and here's to many, many more books. Bye