Meet India's first child superstar, a musical genius, even Jagjit Singh was his fan, was murdered at 14 by...

A film titled 'Qala' was released on Netflix in 2022. The songs of the film were quite popular when they were released. The story of the film was based on the life of two singers. Out of these two singers, one was poisoned in real life. 'Qala' was inspired by real-life events that transpired on screen and the one who inspired it was none other than Master Madan. Master Madan, was such a shining star of the world of music whose talent became a curse for him. Master Madan was a talented Ghazal and geet singer of India of the pre-independence era.

Due to the sound of Master Madan's singing and insecurity about his growing career, he was poisoned to death at the age of 14. Master Madan, who became India's first child superstar at the age of just 3.5 years, was blessed with only 14 years of life. But, the sweetness of Master Madan's singing continues to resonate in people's minds even after 90 years.

Master Madan was born in December 1927, in Khan Khana, a village in Jalandhar (now Nawanshahar) of Punjab. The village was founded by a reputed courtier of Emperor Akbar, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-khana, who was a prolific writer. 

Master Madan's father Amar Singh Ghulam worked for the British Empire. They would be based out of Shimla during the summers. Madan started growing up with his family in the Butail Building in Shimla. When Madan turned 3 years old, his music training started. His father was very fond of music and his elder sister Shanti Devi also learned music, so Madan also started learning along with her.

In just 6 months, Madan achieved such mastery in music that at the age of 3.5 years, he started captivating people with his voice. As Madan grew up, his musical talent started spreading far and wide. Every day, gatherings would be held in Shimla and a small child would steal hearts with his voice. Madan got the title of Master Madan for his voice. Madan started studying at Sanatan Dharma School in Shimla. After this, when Madan grew up, his family came to Delhi.

In Delhi, Madan completed his schooling at Ramjas School. From 1931 to 1942, Master Madan continued singing in All India Radio. During this time, veteran singers like Ghulam Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali, Fateh Ali Dilip Chandervedi, and Dina Qawwal also used to sing for All India Radio. When Madan, who carved hundreds of songs with his voice, became the king of singing at just 14 years of age, big singers started getting jealous of him. Many veteran singers started witnessing their careers in danger.

It is said that his guru Sant Kaleraanvaale had predicted his untimely demise. Madan’s last performance on stage was in Kolkata as a 14-year-old. He returned to Delhi but could only continue his stint with AIR for three more months as he suffered a fever that would never go away. When Master Madan was examined it was found that his vital organs had been harmed by a slow poison and there was no scope for him to recover. 

Master Madan went back to Shimla in 1942 and died in June of the same year. Multiple stories speculate how he was poisoned. In one, it was suspected that mercury was mixed in his drink at the radio station in Delhi. Another claims that he was given a poisoned paan by a singer in Ambala. The third story suggests that he was given a poisoned drink in Kolkata (then Calcutta) during his famous performance.

It is suspected that he was given mercury mixed in milk by an upcoming singer, who was jealous of his achievements.

During his life, he only recorded eight songs, and these are now commonly available. 

His eight songs are:

• Bagaan wich peengan paiyaan (Punjabi)
• Raavi de parle kandey (Punjabi)
• Yun naa reh reh kar hamein tarsaaiye (Urdu Ghazal)
• Heyrat se tak rahaay hain jahane wafaa mujhe (Urdu Ghazal)
• Goree goree baiyaan (Thumri)
• Mori bintee mano kanha re (Thumri)
• Man ki man hi mahi rahi (Gurbani)
• Chetnaa hei to chet le (Gurbani)

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