Hriday Chawrasia Reward Points : 12000 Member Since : Sunday, January 04, 2009
Devika Rani was the great grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore and also bears a distinguished name in the domain of Indian cinema...I would like to know about her films and achievements
Posted On : 5/16/2009 3:33:34 AM
Bidyut Nath Reward Points : 22200 Member Since : Friday, March 27, 2009
Devika Rani s best renowned film was Achhut Kanya 1936 with ashok Kumar as male lead actor. It was about the lovestory of an untouchable girl with a brahmin boy. However, she has acted in another film titled Karma 1933 with her husband Himanshu Rai. This was a very controversial film of her time when society was more orthodox and both of them had a long 4 minute kissing scene in the film. The President of India honoured Devika Rani with a Padma Shri in 1958,. In 1970, she became the first recipient of the prestigious film prize, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. At her funeral, Devika Rani was given full state honors.
Posted On : 5/16/2009 10:50:20 PM
Mona Mehta Reward Points : 19900 Member Since : Friday, January 09, 2009
Born in Vishakhapatnam, Devika Rani came from a distinguished background, she was the great-grand-niece of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and her father, Col. M. N. Chaudhuri, was the first Indian Surgeon-General of Madras. Her mother s name was Leela. She completed her early schooling in the early 1920s. She then studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art RADA and the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, where she won scholarships. She also studied architecture, textile and decor design, and apprenticed under Elizabeth Arden. Here, through her Brahmo connections, she met with scriptwriter Niranjan Pal who would eventually write many of her most successful screen roles. Devika Rani married Indian producer and actor Himanshu Rai in 1929. Together they starred in Karma 1933 . They soon founded the Bombay Talkies film studio, along with retainers Niranjan Pal and Franz Osten, whose films challenged the caste system. In addition to Devika Rani, other notable actors to work for Bombay Talkies at one point or another included Ashok Kumar and Madhubala.
Posted On : 6/1/2009 3:54:07 AM
Ratri Basak Reward Points : 37600 Member Since : Thursday, December 13, 2007
Devika Rani was widowed in 1940 and fought for control of her husband s studio Bombay Talkies, she had to share control with Sashadhar Mukherjee, but in 1943 Sashadhar, Ashok Kumar and a lot of Bombay talkies veterans left and formed a new studio - Filmistan. After that Bombay Talkies started to fade and she married Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich in 1945. She left films and joined her husband in Bangalore. In 1958, the President of India honored Devika Rani with a Padma Shri. In 1970, she became the first recipient of the prestigious film prize, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. In later years, she settled in Bangalore with her second husband Svetoslav Roerich and built the Tataguni estate on Kanakpura Road.
Posted On : 6/1/2009 3:56:03 AM
Joydeep Chakraborty Reward Points : 23700 Member Since : Thursday, February 14, 2008
Hi friends......Devika Rani is still remembered even today as the first lady of the Indian screen. The grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore and truly a great beauty, she left for London in the 1920s to study architecture. There she met Himansu Rai and agreed to design the sets of his first production Light of Asia 1925 . They got married and after marriage they left for Germany where Rai made A Throw of Dice 1929 in collaboration with Germany s famous UFA Studio. Rai made a bilingual Karma 1933 with Devika Rani in the lead and the two came to India.Here Rai and Devika Rani set up the famous Bombay Talkies Studio.
Hi all...Devika Rani formed a successful team with Ashok Kumar The two of them starred in a series of films starting with Jeevan Naiya 1936 but it was Achut Kanya 1936 , which capitulated Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar to big time fame. The love story between an untouchable girl and a Brahmin boy was both a critical and commercial success with critics going in raptures over Devika s performance.
Posted On : 6/1/2009 4:01:01 AM
Ragamala Chakraborty Reward Points : 45200 Member Since : Wednesday, February 11, 2009
For her contribution to Indian Cinema, Devika Rani was the first ever recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1970. She remained in Bangalore till her death in 1994.
Films Of Devika Rani
