The Sirens Of 30s And 40s, Beautiful actresses of 30s and 40s Options

[Pradeep]

The Sirens of the Silent Era

Since the beginning of Indian cinema, the silver screen has given us some incredible women who, with their beauty and talent, continue to inspire us today. Lets start by celebrating the glamorous ladies of the 1920s. Porcelain skin, dark wavy hair, kohl-lined eyes and a deep red mouth; the divine divas of Indian cinema in the twenties might be old hat today, but back then they set the silver screen ablaze with their scintillating presence.

Sulochana (Ruby Myers)

1907-1983

The self-christened Sulochana was among the early Eurasian female stars of Indian Cinema. Born in Pune, the pretty brown-eyed girl was a former telephone operator before stepping into the big bad world of films. Sulochana went on to do numerous films which not only set the box office on fire, but also established her as an A-list star. One of her most memorable roles was in Wild Cat of Bombay. She was one of the highest paid actors then; she drew salary of Rs. 5000 a month, zipping around town in an imported Chevrolet! She played eight different characters: a street urchin, a mali, a policeman, a banana seller, a Hyderabadi man, and even a blonde!

Major Films

• Cinema Queen (1926 )
• Typist Girl (1926 )
• Wildcat of Bombay (1927 )
• Anarkali (1928 )
• Heer Ranjah (1929)

Patience Cooper

(1905-1983)

Perhaps the first ever Indian female film star, Patience Cooper was a dancer by profession before she entered tinsletown. Her sharp features, fair skin and ebony hair made her perfect for the black and white era and allowed the use of eye-level lighting, rarely used in India. Cooper was often cast as the sexually troubled but innocent woman at the center of moral dilemmas, a fore-runner to the type of roles played later by Nargis. Patience Cooper was the first person in Indian cinema to enact a double role! She played two sisters in the film Patni Pratap. Her career was smooth and she remained at the top till she was dethroned by Sulochana. She switched to talkies with ease.

Major Films

• Nala Damayanti (1920)
• Pati Bhakti (1922)
• Noorjehan (1923)
• Patni Pratap (1923)
• Kashmiri Sundari (1924)
• Kapal Kundala (1929)
• Zehari Saap (1933)

Seeta Devi (Renee Smith)

(1905-1983)

Born Renee Smith, this Anglo-Indian shot to stardom after Himanshu Rai chose her for the female lead in Light of Asia. She was a star at Madan Theatres' Elphinstone Theatre, making her debut with Dhiren Ganguly. She acted in Priyanath Ganguly's 20s Madan films. She went on to do a few other films like Prem Sanyas (1925) and received accolades for her performance. Her roles in Shiraz where she played the 'other woman' and Prapancha Pash where she was the heroine, established her firmly. Himanshu Rai, Smith's first co-star in Light of Asia (1925) gave her the screen name Seeta Devi. It has been suggested that both Renee Smith and her sister Percy Smith may have appeared in the film, Seeta Devi in the title role!

Major Films

• Light of Asia (1925)
• Prem Sanyas (1925)
• Durgesh Nandini (1927)
• Shiraz (1928)
• The Loves of a Mughal Prince (1928)
• Kapal Kundala (1929)

Zubeida

(1911-1990)

Zubeida was born in Surat as a Muslim princess to Sachin and Fatima Begum. She started her career at Kohinoor at the age of 12. Her early career was dominated by her beautiful sister Sultana, who was a better known star in the 20s. Her second sister, Shehzadi also was a teenage actress. She came to be identified with courtesan roles in big Urdu, stage-derived costume pictures, a tradition extended by Meena Kumari and developed the tragic dsimension of her image in several of Naval Gandhi's socials including the prestigious Tagore adaptation Balidan.Identified with courtesan roles in big-budget movies, Zubeida went on to do Indian cinema's first talkie Alam Ara (1931). In 1934 she launched Mahalakshmi Cinetone. By the late 30s she had retired, appearing in the rare film later.

Major Films

• Veer Abhimanyu (1922)
• Gul-e-Bakavali (1924)
• Indrasabha (1925)
• Bulbul-e-Paristan (1926)
• Heer Ranjha (1928)
• Kapal Kundala (1929)

Fatima Begum

(1905-1983)

Credited as the first woman director in India. Fatima Begum was married to the Nawab of Sachin and was the mother of silent superstars Sultana, Zubeida as well as Shahzadi. She began her career on the Urdu stage, and went on to do films and became an established actress in Irani's Star Film, Veer Abhimanyu. A couple of years later she set up Fatma Film (1926), which was later known as Victoria-Fatma Film (1928). She was an actress at Kohinoor and Imperial Studios while producing, writing and directing (often also acting in) her own films at the Fatma Co. When she directed Bulbul-e-Paristan in 1926, Fatima Begum became the first woman director or Indian Cinema. Leaning towards direction, Fatima did not give up acting entirely and continued acting till her last film in 1938, Duniya Kya Hai.

Major Films

• Veer Abhimanyu (1922)
• Prithvi Vallabh (1924)
• Gul-e-Bakavali (1924)
• Kala Naag (1924)
• Sati Sardarba (1924)
• Mumbai ni Mohini (1925)
• Bulbul-e-Paristan (1926)

Temptresses of the Thirties

The Thirties changed the face of Indian Cinema forever. We were now in the age of the talkies. Our women were not only required to act and look good they also had to sound good! Apart from dubbing dialogues, there was also a trend to sing ones own songs. So it was not unusual for Devika Rani to convince Ashok Kumar that she was his 'ban ki chidiya' in her own voice. The era also brought about a revolution of sorts as women like Durga Khote and Shobhana Samarth, who came from "respectable" families, entered films, challenging the belief that acting was for "fallen" women.

Devika Rani Choudhury

(1907-1994)

The grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore and an acknowledged beauty, Devika Rani goes down in the annals of Indian cinema as an actor par excellence, who was not afraid to live life on her terms. She is best remembered for the on-screen kiss she shared with Ashok Kumar in Achhut Kanya, a film in which her acting skills catapulted her to a league of her own. Married to Himansu Rai, they together set up the famous Bombay Talkies Studio. Devika Rani was the first ever recepient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1970. After Rai's death, she married Svetoslav Roerich and stayed at their estate near Bangalore till her death in 1994.

Major Films

• Jawani Ki Hawa (1935 )
• Achhut Kanya (1936 )
• Jeevan Naiya (1936 )
• Jeevan Prabhat (1937 )
• Durga (1939)

Durga Khote

(1905-1991)

Durga Khote came from a family of lawyers, shattering the myth that acting was a profession only for women of shady backgrounds. A strong woman, Khote had a glorious career that spanned 50 years that included acting, producing and directing. She produced and directed Saathi and acted in over 200 films. She later diversified into short films, ad films and documentaries, running her own company, with considerable success, for over 25 years. Durga Khote was opposed to and capaigned against Indira Gandhi's Emergency which suspended civil rights. Khote recieved the Dadasaheb Phalke in 1983 and remained active in the acting arena till the ripe age of 80.

Major Films

• Ayodhyecha Raja (1932 )
• Rajrani Meera (1934 )
• Amar Jyoti (1937)
• Nanda Kumar (1938)
• Adhuri Kahani (1939 )

Shobhana Samarth

(1916-1993)

Contrary to today's rules where actresses are considered stale once they get married, Shobhana Samarth's film career only began after her marriage. Best known for her portrayal of Sita in Ram Rajya, she became the eternal Sita in the audience's minds. This was ironical because she was noted for her carefree lifestyle and disregard of convention. Her relationship with famous actor Motilal was talk of the country. They were considered to be a perfect, if elite couple since he too was also very erudite and cultured. Rumours suggest that the only film Gandhiji ever saw was Ram Rajya where Shobhana played Sita. Her daughters Nutan and Tanuja and grandkids Kajol and Mohnish have carved niches for themselves in Bollywood.

Major Films

• Nigah-e-Nafrat (1935 )
• Do Diwane (1936 )
• Apni Nagariya (1940 )
• Bharat Milap (1942 )
• Naukar (1943)
• Ram Rajya (1943)

Kanan Devi

(1907-1983)

Kanan Devi has been described to have the marvellous gift of smoothly carrying over to the melodic elaboration, the intimate expressiveness of speech - occasional aspiration of vowels, accented speech rhythms and sensitive manipulation of volume. An untrained singer before entering films, she briefly studied under Ustad Allah Rakha in Lucknow. PC Barua's Mukti made her a star, while her chart-busting hit Toofan Mail remains a hit even today. Kanan Devi remained the top star of New Theatres till she resigned in 1941 and began to freelance in Hindi and Bengali films. Kanan Devi has been noted for Eliza Dolittle transformation from a slum dweller into a beautiful actress. In 1977 she was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award for her contribution to Indian Cinema.

Major Films

• Vishnu Maya (1932)
• Manmoyee Girls' School (1935 )
• Mukti (1937 )
• Street Singer (1938 )
• Sapera (1939)
• Javani ki Reet (1939 )
• Parajay (1939)

Nadia (Mary Evans)

(1910-1996)

Nadia 'Hunterwali', perhaps the most famous actor of the pre-independence era in her genre, was actually an Australian of Welsh-Greek extraction. She was introduced to films by J.B.H Wadia, the founder of Wadia Movietone, the behemoth of stunt and action films in 1930s Bombay. A circus artist and a ballet dancer before she entered films, Nadia became a cult figure as soon as Hunterwali was announced. The audience called her 'Fearless Nadia', since she displayed a prowess for 'action', eg jumping from moving trains, which few could equal. Shekhar Kapur thought to be in talks with Cate Blanchette to star in a biopic based on Fearless Nadia's life. Some of Nadia's most popular films, were directed by Homi Wadia whom she later married.

Major Films

• Lal-e-Yaman (1933)
• Desh Deepak (1935)
• Hunterwali (1935)
• Miss Frontier Mail (1936 )
• Pahadi Kanya (1936)
• Hurricane Hansa (1937 )
• Punjab Mail (1939 )
• Diamond Queen (1940)
• Muqabala (1942)

Leela Chitnis

(1910-2003)

It is often said about Leela Chitnis that she was liberated before it was fashionable for Indian women to be so. One of the first educated women in the film industry, Chitnis will always be remembered for her films at Bombay Talkies, which saw her take over as the studio's leading female star from Devika Rani. Films were Chitnis' resort to support her children from her first marriage. She started as an 'extra' at Sagar Movietone and moved on to mythological films and Ram Daryani's stunt films. One of her most memorable roles is in Gentleman Daku (1937). Leela Chitnis was the first Indian actress to endorse and model for the beauty soap Lux.

Major Films

• Berozgar (1936 )
• Chhaya (1936 )
• Wahan (1937 )
• Jailor (1938)
• Sant Tulsidas (1939)
• Kangan (1939)
• Azad (1940)

[sulemanbhai]

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