Devika Rani

Devika Rani was a very beautiful and highly talented actress who ruled the hearts and minds of cinema goers in 1930s and was widely recognised as the First Lady of Indian cinema at a time when it was considered a taboo for the women to work in films . She was also called as the dragon lady for her superfine and bold performances .
She was born on March 30, 1908 at waltair near Vizag. into the effluent and educated bengali hindu family of the first Indian Surgeon-General of Madras Col. M.N. Chowdhury who hailed from a jamindar family of Pabna district of east Bengal now Bangladesh) She was also a grandniece of the great Rabindranath Tagore.
As a child she displayed a lively interest in arts and her parents sent her for higher studies to England. In the mid 1920s , after finishing her school , she took up acting and music winning a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and music in London .
It is at london in 1928 that she met her would be husband-Himanshu Rai , a barrister turned film maker ,who was in London preparing to shoot his film -A Throw of Dice , and being impressed with Devika’s exceptional skills invited her as a costume designer and art director. Both then also went to Germany and learnt the film-making techniques . Devika Rani learnt various aspects of film-making and also took a special course in film acting and soon in 1929 she married Himanshu Roy .
Devika and Himanshu Rai returned to India and produced the film Karma in 1933 with himanshu as the hero and devika as the heroine. It was the first movie in english made by indians and became very popular in london particularly for the kissing scene lasting for 4 minutes ( a record till 2014) between himanshu and devika . Devika Rani’s performance in the film was internationally acclaimed .
This film helped Devika Rani establish herself as a leading actress in Indian cinema and independence activist and poet Sarojini Naidu called her a ‘lovely and gifted little lady’.
Later in 1934 Himanshu Rai established and started a film studio named Bombay Talkies with the financial help of seth Rajnarayan dubey which studio in times to come served as a launch pad for future 280 great professional artisans , actors and actresses including Dilip Kumar, Leela Chitnis, kamini kaushal ,
Madhubala, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and so many others .
The Studio’s hit film Achhut Kannya अछूत कन्या 1936), was a tragedy drama that had Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar portraying the roles of an untouchable girl and a Brahmin boy who fall in love.The film is considered a landmark in Indian cinema as it challenged the caste system in the country.
In the 1930s, Bombay Talkies produced ten women-centric films with Devika Rani playing the impressive lead role in all of them pairing opposite to Ashok Kumar, who owed much of his initial popularity to this synergistic cooperation .
Some of these films sent powerful social and reformist messages.
The Film – Jeevan Prabhat जीवन प्रभात released in 1937 portrayed a role-reversal between Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar—she played a higher-caste Brahmin woman who is mistaken by society of having an extra-marital affair with a dalit man.
Her next release Izzat इज़्ज़त (1937) was set in the medieval period and depicted two lovers belonging to enemy clans of the Maratha empire.
The film Nirmala निर्मला 1938 dealt with the plight of a child-less woman who is misguided by an astrologer to abandon her husband to ensure successful pregnancy.
In film Vachan वचन 1938 , she played a Rajput princess. Her film Durga in 1939 was a romantic drama about an orphaned girl and a village doctor, played by Ashok Kumar.

In 1940 , her husband – Himanshu Roy expired due to stress and she then took management control of the studio and made three films Anjaan अनजान in 1941 , Basant बसंत and kismet किस्मत in 1943 . The last two movies with anti-british messages were recorded as hit .
She made her last film appearance in Hamari Baat हमारी बात ( 1943) in which Raj Kapoor played a small role.
She retired from Bombay talkies due to differences with partners .
In 1945 she married the famous Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and also retired from acting .
After her marriage, the couple moved to kullu -Manali where she produced a few documentaries on wild life . After staying in Manali for some years, they moved to Bangalore and settled there managing an export company. The couple bought a 450 acres estate on the outskirts of the city and led a solitary life for the remainder of their lives.
She died of bronchitis on 9 March 1994 ( a year after her second husband Roerich died ) in Bangalore and her funeral was given full state honors. As the couple was childless ; their estate was acquired by govt of Karnataka .
Devika was decorated with several prestigious awards . In 1958, the Government honoured her with a Padma Shri for her great contribution to the Indian cinema during it’s formative years and she also became the first ever recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the year 1970, the country’s highest award for films, instituted in 1969.
In 1990, Soviet Russia honoured her with the “Soviet Land Award”.
A postage stamp commemorating her life was released in February, 2011 by the govt.
In 2020, Kishwar Desai published a book titled The Longest Kiss , which sheds light on Devika Rani’s professional accomplishments .
She slong with her husband took active part in the development of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath which due to their efforts became the dominant cultural institution of Bangalore.
Film lovers will remember her for a long time for her beauty, acting talent and boldness she showed during her time .
Names of her prominent films year wise are stated in a 

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Five stars

DEVIKA RANI’S PROMINENT FILMS

Karma (1933)

Jawani Ki Hawa (1935)

Mamta Aur Mian Biwi (1936)

Jeevan Naiya (1936)

Janmabhoomi (1936)

Achhoot Kannya (1936)

Savitri (1937)

Jeevan Prabhat (1937)

Izzat (1937)

Prem Kahani (1937)

Nirmala (1938)

Vachan (1938)

Durga (1939)

Anjaan (1941)

Hamari Baat (1943)

Anjaan (1943 )

Basant ( 1943)

Kismet ( 1943 )

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