It’s raining biopics in Bollywood and there’s one more in the making. BT has exclusively learnt that Nawazuddin and wife Aaliya Siddiqui are set to make a film on Chhattisgarh’s legendary folk artiste, Padma Vibhushan awardee Teejan Bai. The veteran artiste is the greatest exponent of Pandvani (Pandavon ki katha in Chhattisgarhi language), a traditional performing art form involving narration of tales from the Mahabharata.Nawaz has been a huge admirer of Teejan Bai’s work since his early days as a theatre actor and has seen her perform live. However, the thought of making a film on her was Aaliya’s, who will soon make a foray into cinema as a producer with a film helmed by Sai Kabir. The Teejan bai biopic will be her second outing as a producer. While the film is still being scripted, BT was the first to catch up with Nawaz, Aaliya and Teejan Bai in Mumbai. It was also the first time that the three were coming together for a discussion. Excerpts from a tête-à-tête with the trio...As we entered the room of a suburban five-star hotel in Mumbai, Teejan Bai welcomed us with a warm namaste and expressed gratitude to Aaliya and Nawaz for dedicating a film to her. Though she isn’t too acquainted with the current crop of actors, she acknowledged Nawaz’s work and told us that she is aware of him as an actor. She even recalled her meeting with director Imtiaz Ali (during 'Tamasha', 2015) and said, “Itney bade director hamare ghar aaye, hamare saath khaana khaaya. Woh 'Tamasha' bana rahey the tab. He spent almost four hours in my village. I showed him around.”Explaining why she chose to make a film on Teejan, Aaliya explained, “I’ve always wanted to make a film on amma (Teejan Bai). Even at this age, she performs on stage for hours and doesn’t forget a single word. She fought the norms created by the society, at a time when women barely had the right to speak up and that’s admirable. I would love to see Amitabh Bachchan sir playing the role of her nana, as in reality, her grandfather played an integral part in her life and career. Interestingly, we discovered that Amitabhji’s legendary father Harivansh Rai Bachchan was also an admirer of Teejanji. Amitji had also invited amma to his home on his birthday.”Teejan was accompanied by her assistant, who helped us communicate with her better. He innocently pointed out that she barely remembers her age. While she says she is 63, she could be well in her 70s, but can still perform on stage for over an hour at a stretch. She cut in, “Government ne naukri diya tha. Main anpad gawar insaan kya jaanu. Naukri ke time age poocha toh aise hi bata diya. Mujhe baad mein pata chala ke mera age toh zyaada hai.”In times of women empowerment and fight for gender parity, as Teejan recollects her life’s journey, and her success against all odds, you wonder why it took so long for Bollywood to notice her. She regrets her lack of education and despite enjoying global recognition and receiving various national and international awards, it is heartwarming to see her simplicity and honesty.A self-confessed Teejan fan, Nawaz recalled, “Like hundreds of people, I have also been a fan of Teejan Bai. Her shows were always houseful. People used to stand on their seats and clap. They would queue up to catch a glimpse of her. I must have been 20 years old. I got goosebumps when I watched her perform live in Delhi for the first time, in the early 90s. Woh ek mahol create karti thi. Traditional folk artistes like her have a way of telling a story with their gestures, voice, and body language. It’s dramatic, OTT and magnificently enthralling. Legends like her have kept our country’s culture and art alive.You need to conserve what is yours. It hurts to see that today’s generation might not even know about her. ”As far as his involvement in the film is concerned, he added, “Aaliya is my wife and I will support her as much as I can. I will be involved in this film as far as the creative part is concerned. Teejan Bai is a legend and we hope we can make this film relevant, not just for the film festivals, but also the audience in general.”Happy to know that a film is being made on her, Teejan Bai said, “Maine apni zindagi mein kaafi utaar chadhav dekhi hain. Mujhe khushi hai ke mere jeevan par ek picture ban rahi hai. It reminds me of all the problems and hurdles that I have overcome in all these years.”Attributing her art to God, Teejan revealed that Pandvani was her calling and it came naturally to her. But that was a problem, as women weren’t supposed to perform on stage at that time. It was condemned. Since she didn’t pay heed to her parents’ disapproval, she was asked to leave the house. She explained, “I hail from Ganiyari (Chhattisgarh) and I’ve been performing since the age of 13. I am no poet. I used to hear my nana (grandfather) sing at night and I learnt it from him. Words and pictures came naturally to my mind. Pandvani yeh kaam ladkon ka hai, ladkiyon ka nahi, aisa mujhe bola gaya. Mujhe mana karte the sab log. Maa kehti thi ke sab gaon wale taana maarte hai. Main ladki hokar ladkon ka kaam kar rahi thi. I never understood why I can’t do it. Why shouldn’t a woman perform on stage? I was told that if I continued doing it, no one would marry my siblings and that we would be ostracised by our village and society. Uss zamaney mein Hindu dharam mein aisa samajhte the ki jinka gharaana accha nahi hai, wohi aurtein stage pe perform karti hai. I was told to focus on household chores. I felt, Bhagwaan ki katha bataane mein kyun katrana’, so I continued singing. Maine maa ka nahi suna isliye mujhe ghar se nikaal diya. I was very young then. I’ve looked after myself from a very young age. Mujhe chulha jalaana bhi nahi aata tha. I became a nomad. I travelled wherever the work took me. My parents loved me, but they were adamant that I give up Pandvani, which I didn’t do. I got married thrice. Even my in-laws would say, ‘Humein gaana gaanewali nahi, khaana bananewali bahu chahiye’.”Speaking of awards and degrees conferred upon her, including the recent Padma Vibhushan, Teejan naively admitted, “I didn’t have the knowledge of these awards (Padma Awards) until people told me what they meant. When Bilaspur University awarded me with a D.Litt (doctorate) honour, much to their amusement, I told them that I can’t have two D.Litts as I was already offered one by Raipur University. I told them give it to someone else. They laughed and told me, ‘Aisey Dr ki upaadi aapko dus bhi mil sakti hai’. That’s when I thought, ‘Oh, I just got two. I want more (laughs!)’. I have four such D. Litt degrees today — from Raipur, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Jabalpur universities. I have even performed in front of Indiraji (former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi), and unko bhi mera performance pasand aaya tha. She thought that my courage was admirable. She even joked with me saying, ‘Chhattisgarh mein Mahabharat karvati ho kya?’ To which I replied, ‘Karvati nahi, sunaati hoon’. Impressed by my repartee, she couldn’t believe that I wasn’t educated.”Like Nawaz, another huge fan of Teejan Bai from the industry is filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. Interestingly, his Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone-starrer 'Tamasha' was strongly influenced by her craft.Describing her as the ‘rock star of Indian tamasha (grand show)’, Imtiaz told BT, “Before starting 'Tamasha', Ranbir and I decided to visit the rockstar of Indian Tamasha, Teejan Bai. We went to her home in Ganiyari village (Raipur) where she still rehearses and figures her lines. She even performed for us. I wanted Ranbir to see how stories are told with drama, the real Indian way.”