Devika Rani Birth Anniversary: Although Indian cinema was started by Dadasaheb Phalke in the year 1913, but with time, some things happened which were completely new. An outspoken actress came to Indian cinema who did not express any objection in doing any scene. In the era when women were not even allowed to study, she studied abroad and created many records in Indian cinema.
Yes, we are talking about Devika Rani, famous as the first dream girl and first lady of Indian cinema. Who gave the first ‘First Kiss’ and made many other records. Let us tell you about the initial journey and last journey of Devika Rani.
Devika Rani’s family background
Devika Rani Chaudhary was born in a well educated family on 30 March 1908 in Visakhapatnam. His father Manmathanath Chaudhary and his wife Leela Devi Chaudhary were both doctors. Devika Rani’s father belonged to a zamindar family who along with being a doctor, also owned the land and was also a colonel.
Devika Rani’s mother Leela Devi was Rabindranath Tagore’s niece. Devika Rani was very rich and her father gave her a lot of education at a time when people did not even allow women to leave the house. When Devika Rani was 9 years old, her parents sent her to study in a boarding school in England. After studies, she went to London and took acting-music classes there. Along with this, he also learned the art of art direction and costume.
Devika Rani’s first film
Devika Rani met Himanshu Roy in London during her college studies. Who used to make English films, act and also write stories. Their meeting turned into friendship, they fell in love and then they got married in the year 1929. After marriage, Devika and Himanshu Rai made a film named ‘Karma’ (1933).
This film was made in Hindi and English and Devika Rani also acted in the lead role with her husband Himanshu Rai. After this film, Himanshu and Devika came to India and started their production house ‘Bombay Talkies’ in Mumbai. This production house was very new for India at that time in which many advanced technologies were used.
Made the first film of ‘Bombay Talkies’ ‘Jeevan Naiya’ in which Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar were seen in lead roles. Ashok Kumar was introduced in this film. After this both of them did the film ‘Achhut Kanya’ which became a superhit. Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar had worked together in many films.
Devika Rani Records
It was said about Devika Rani that she was a very outspoken, brilliant and dynamic actress. She used to adapt herself to all kinds of roles and even sang songs herself in her films. The 1933 film Karma was Devika Rani’s first film and she gave a kissing scene with her husband Himanshu Rai in this film, which was the first kissing scene in Indian cinema. He did this kiss for full 4 minutes, which is said to be the longest kissing scene till date.
Being the first female actress of Indian cinema, she is also called the ‘First Lady’ of the film industry. Apart from this, Devika Rani was very beautiful and her work in films was unmatched, the youth of that time used to be her fans. For this reason, she is also called the first ‘Dream Girl’ of Indian cinema. The film Kismat (1943), made in Devika Rani’s company ‘Bombay Talkies’, had earned Rs 1 crore at the box office. This film is the first film of Indian cinema to earn Rs 1 crore.
Devika Rani passes away
Devika Rani’s husband Himanshu Roy died in the year 1940. After this, Devika Rani started taking charge of ‘Bombay Talkies’ but she did not feel like it, so she sold her shares in the company and married Russian Svetoslav Roerich in the year 1945 and shifted to Bangalore.
According to reports, she bought a lot of property here and started doing real estate business. Her second husband also died in the year 1993. While living alone for a year, she started becoming very ill. Devika Rani died on 9 March 1994.
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