Devika Rani
Actor, Film actor
1908 – 1994
Who was Devika Rani?
Devika Rani Chaudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani, was an actress in Indian films who was active during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.
Devika Rani's early years were mostly spent in London where she studied architecture, and started her career as a textile engineer. In 1928, she met Himanshu Rai, an Indian film-producer, who persuaded her to join his production crew. She assisted in costumes design and art direction for Rai's film A Throw of Dice. The two married in 1929, and went to Germany where Devika Rani learned different aspects of film-making in the UFA Studios in Berlin. Rai then cast her in the 1933 talkie Karma in which her performance received critical acclaim. Returning to India, the couple established their production studio Bombay Talkies in 1934. They produced many women-centric films throughout the decade, with Devika Rani portraying lead roles in most of them. Her on-screen pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular in India.
Following Rai's death in 1940, Devika Rani took over the control of the studio and produced several films.
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- Born
- Mar 30, 1908
Visakhapatnam - Also known as
- The Dragon Lady
- Devika Rani Choudhury
- Devika Rani Chaudhuri Roerich
- Devika Rani Chaudhuri
- Parents
- Spouses
- Svetoslav Roerich
(1945 - 1993) - Himanshu Rai
(1929 - 1940/05/16)
- Svetoslav Roerich
- Nationality
- India
- Profession
- Education
- Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
- Royal Academy of Music
- Died
- Mar 9, 1994
Bangalore
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"Devika Rani." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/devika_rani>.
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