Devika Rani Roerich
Born:
Devika Rani Chaudhury
March 30, 1908(1908-03-30)
Vishakhapatnam, British India
Died:
March 9, 1994 (aged 85)
Bangalore, India
Other name(s) :
The Dragon Lady
Years active :
1925 - 1943 ( As An Actress)
Spouse(s):
Himanshu Rai (1929 - 1940 His Death)
Svetoslav Roerich (1945 - 1993 His Death)
Career
Born in Waltair (now 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.
Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar in Achhut Kanya, 1936.
In 1936, actor Najam-ul-Hussain, who was casted as the leading man in Jeevan Naiya, fell ill and the studio head Himanshu Rai called upon his laboratory assistant Ashok Kumar to take the leading man's part and thus began a six-decade-long acting career for that action. Ashok Kumar later starred with the actress in Achhut Kanya (1936). This, her most notable film, is the story of a relationship between an untouchable girl (played by herself) and a Brahmin boy (played by Ashok Kumar).
Devika Rani is also accredited for having acted in the longest kissing scene in the movie world with her husband Himanshu Rai in Karma (1933). It was 4 minutes long and very controversial in the then culturally orthodox India.
Later life
Widowed in 1940, she 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.[1]
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. The estate is famous for the dispute that ensued over it after her death as the Indian and Russian governments and relatives went to court over its control.
At her funeral, Devika Rani was given full state honors.
Family background
Devika Rani was the great grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore. Devika Rani's maternal grandmother Indumati Devi was the daughter of Tagore's elder sister Saudamini Devi; she thus is related matrilineally to Tagore. Her father M N Chaudhuri also belonged to an illustrious family of Bengal. Her uncles, i.e. her father's brothers, were famous men, like Justice Sir Ashutosh Chaudhuri, Barrister Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri, and author Pramatha Chaudhuri.
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