Sad true story of Babil Khan’s ‘Kaala’ character inspired by Singer Master Madan, died at the age of 14

Later Nightingale In 2020, writer and lyricist filmmaker Anvita Dutt’s second directorial venture Start Recently released on Netflix.

Starring Tripti Dimaria, Babil Khan and Swastika Mukherjee, Start A visually engaging film that keeps you hooked, for the most part, however, suffers from plot predictability with a weak climax at the end.

Despite all its shortcomings, Start Features a competent debut by Babil Khan with a fabulous Tripti Dimri and the ever-reliable Swastika Mukherjee.

However, one fascinating aspect of the film that immediately caught my attention was the character of Jagan played by Babil Khan.

(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJZKEklZhdM(/embed)

The film follows a troubled popular singer as she reflects on her tumultuous relationship with her mother, herself a famous singer, and her jealousy of a singer from her past that has fatal consequences.

Swastika Mukherjee who plays the role of Urmila Manjushree wants her daughter Kala Manjushree to become a popular and respected singer in the male dominated world.

Seeking perfection in her own daughter’s singing, Urmila comes across Jagan and is mesmerized by his voice.

Urmila then takes Jagan under her wing, ignoring her daughter’s singing talent. Being sidelined by his mother, Qala takes drastic measures as a result of which Jagan loses his voice and then dies by suicide.

While Kala climbs the ladder of success despite being abandoned by her mother, her past deeds slowly catch up with her and leave her in a desolate state.

As Jagan’s character, played by Babil, unfolds on screen, it was fascinating to notice the parallels between him and the real-life tragedy of 14-year-old Ghazal singer Master Madan.

© Twitter

I believe Anvita Dutt very cleverly took inspiration from Master Madan’s life for Babil Ki Jagan.

Born on December 28, 1927, Master Madan was a child prodigy who gained nationwide fame with his performances as a ghazal singer when he was just three and a half years old.

(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0vDvwYE59Q(/embed)

As the years passed, Master Madan’s popularity grew across the country and by the age of 14, the prodigious singer passed away due to mercury poisoning.

His last stage performance was in Kolkata where he sang Vinati Suno Mori Avadhapur Ke Basaiyaa Which won him nine medals of pure gold apart from the cash prize.

After the performance, he returned to Delhi and sang for All India Radio before falling ill due to mild fever, which did not subside and finally at his home in Shimla, Master Madan breathed his last.

suspected it A budding singer who was jealous of Madan’s talent and popularity had her milk ‘poisoned with mercury’.

In his short lifetime, Master Madan recorded only 8 songs: Bagan wich peengaan paiyaan (Punjabi), Raavi de parle kaande (Punjabi), Yun rah na rah kar humne tarsaiye (Urdu Ghazal), Herat se tak raha hai jahan wafa mujhe (Urdu Ghazal), Gore Gore Baiiyan (Thumri), Mori benti Mano Kanha Re (Thumri), mind’s heart is my love (Gurbani) and consciousness is conscious (Gurbani),

(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdAmsTDjauw(/embed)

in StartAnvita never directly states that Jagan is inspired by Master Madan, but quite cleverly drops enough pieces for her audience to catch the resemblance.

For example, after Jagan moves into Kala’s house, he is often tasked by his mother to get him a glass of milk.

There is also a scene where Kala’s mother scolds Jagan for putting a thermometer in his mouth to check his fever as mercury can be fatal to his voice.

Apart from the explicit mention of milk and mercury, there is also a mention of Shimla and Mahatma Gandhi’s visit at the time of Master Madan’s concert.

it was said In 1940, Mahatma Gandhi could not attract sufficient crowd as people opted to attend Master Madan’s music festival which was happening at the same time.

and in Start, Jagan’s introductory scene takes place right after a character who says that Gandhiji is in town and that’s why the auditorium is less crowded. However, by the time Jagan started his performance, we saw more people in the audience than there were during Kaala’s performance just before that.

(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZzWBry2ARo(/embed)

Also, initially, we are never told whether Jagan loses her voice due to the art or not, but there is a hint of it and there is a scene towards the end where she imagines mixing mercury in a glass of milk. Also, an insect that turns into mercury in its hallucinations.

If you’re even remotely familiar with the tragic true story of Master Madan, it’s hard to ignore these hints or those scattered throughout the film.

Apart from basing a major character on Master Madan, Anvita Dutt also mentions producer Rai Sahab and his producer and actor wife, who appears to be Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani of Bombay Talkies.

In fact, it looks like Anushka Sharma has made a beautiful cameo as Devika Rani.

A user on social media also pointed out that Huma, the photographer in the film, is based on India’s first female photographer Homai Vyarawala.

not sure how many of you have seen it, but in the movie #StartThe character of photographer Huma, whom Qala asks her to click, is based on Homai Vyarawala, India’s first female photographer.
random habits i picked up after working out @IWTKQuiz pic.twitter.com/rbZavqku1B

— Ananya Shukla (she/they) (@ananyashukla20) December 6, 2022

overall, Start Apart from being an attractive watch there is a lot for movie lovers to chew on.