Videos
Watch the fascinating conversation between singer and author Vidya Shah and senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai, talk about her book 'Jalsa: Indian Women and their Journeys from the Salon to the Studio' that documents singers from yore like Gauhar Jaan and Begum Akhtar, who recorded their songs using the gramophone. Jaan led the music market in India and sang the first commercial recording in 1902, with several songs in 20 languages in her repertoire.
Shah's book takes us back to the early 1900s, capturing the lives of the singers and the making of the music industry in India. She also traveled to the 'real Heeramandi', which is currently in Lahore, Pakistan, and is glorified in the Netflix series that goes by the same name by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
