Auditorium in Gaya to be named after Sanjay Dutt’s grandmother

Gaya: In a move that reconnects Gaya with a chapter of Indian cinema and classical music history, the auditorium-cum-academic building coming up at Daulat Bagh in Gaya — the address once associated with Jaddan Bai, grandmother of film actor Sanjay Dutt — is set to be named after her.

The old-style, sprawling house at the site originally belonged to Mir Abu Barkat Ali alias Zafar Nawab of the Kada estate, the then zamindar and a patron of art and music. The palace-like, two-storeyed airy structure had been earmarked by the Nawab for Jaddan Bai, who lived there for several years before settling in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and later moving to the then Bombay (now Mumbai) to pursue a career in films. Even after leaving Gaya, she is said to have frequently visited the residence.


Originally from Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Jaddan Bai was an acclaimed exponent of thumri and other forms of Indian classical music. She is also regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema. In her early years, she found patronage under the Nawab. Her daughter, Nargis — the iconic actor of ‘Mother India’ fame — and her (Nargis’) husband, actor and former Union minister Sunil Dutt, maintained their Gaya connection during the lifetime of Zafar Nawab’s son, Muzaffar Nawab.

Sanjay Dutt, during a political visit to Gaya a few years ago in connection with a Samajwadi Party meeting, had turned nostalgic and described Gaya as his ‘nanihal’ (maternal home).

According to Nawab Iqbal Sayeed Quadri alias Humayun and Nawab Fareed Quadri, surviving members of Zafar Nawab’s extended family, the Daulat Bagh premises were acquired by the govt in the 1950s.

Several years after the acquisition, the state govt constructed the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) with an annual intake of 200 within the Daulat Bagh complex, leaving aside the building associated with the thumri exponent.

A resident of the Daulat Bagh neighbourhood expressed regret that the structure was not preserved as a heritage building, considering its architectural and historical significance.

Justifying the demolition, principal of the District Institute of Education and Training, Ajay Kumar, said the building had become thoroughly dilapidated and could have collapsed at any moment, posing danger to life and limb in the vicinity. “Reports of past casualties due to collapse of some part of the building are also there,” he said.

The DIET principal said an auditorium and academic building would be constructed at the site. There is a proposal to name the new structure after Jaddan Bai, the iconic exponent of Indian classical music.