Devika Rani Birthday, Age, Family & Biography

Devika Rani after completion of her schooling went to London and enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Royal Academy of Music. Along with drama, she studied subjects like décor design, textile, and architecture at the RADA.

 

Noted scriptwriter Niranjan Pal introduced her to the movies. He wrote scripts for many of Devika Rani’s hit films. She started her professional career as a textile engineer and then by assisting in art direction and costume design for Himanshu rai’s film A Throw of Dice in 1929. She along with Himanshu Rai raced to Germany for the post-production work. She observed the filming method of German film industry and inspired by them she joined Universum Film AG studio in Berlin to pursue a filmmaking course.

 

She made her acting debut with the film Karma in 1933. It was one of the initial Hindi films that had a kissing scene. Besides acting, she also made her singing debut by singing a song in the film. The song was a bi-lingual one and was sung in Hindi and English. This song was the first English-language song from a Bollywood film. Since the movie was made in Hindi and English, it was premiered in London. The film was well received throughout Europe.

 

She was cast opposite Ashok Kumar in the blockbuster film Achut Kanya in 1936. This two then paired in series of hit films and their pair was one of the most successful pairs of Bollywood yesterdays.

 

She is still remembered as the first lady of the Indian cinema. For her contribution, she was conferred with Padma Shri Award and she was the first actor from Bollywood to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

She married Himanshu Rai in 1929 and together they established the Bombay Talkies which was a launched future superstar like Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Mumtaz, and Madhubala. Himanshu Rai died in 1940.

 

After Bombay Talkies started losing its charm, she married Svetoslav Roerich, a Russian Painter in 1945.