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Home , Anmol Ghadi, Bombay Talkies, Devika Rani, Dinesh Raheja, Ghulam Haider (composer), Himanshu Rai

I. (A) Personal Details Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof. Sumita University of Allhabad Parmar Paper Coordinator Prof Pande University of Hyderabad Author Dr. Archana Verma Independent Scholar Content Reviewer (CR) Prof Rekha Pande University of Hyderabad Language Editor (LE) Prof. Sumita University of Allhabad Parmar

(B) Description of Module

Items Description of Module Subject Name Women’s Studies Paper Name Women and History Module Name/ Title, Women performers in colonial description Module ID Paper- 3, Module-30 Pre-requisites None Objectives To explore the achievements of women performers in colonial period Keywords Indian art, women in performance, cinema and women, India cinema, cinema

Women Performing Artists in Colonial India There were few women painters in Colonial India. But in the performing arts, especially acting, women artists were found in large numbers in this period. At first they acted on the stage in theatre groups. Later, with the coming of cinema, they began to act for the screen. Cinema gave them a channel for expressing their acting talent as no other medium had before. Apart from acting, some of them even began to direct films at this early stage in the history of Indian cinema. Thus, acting and film direction was not an exclusive arena of men where women were mostly subjects. It was an arena where women became the creators of this art form and they commanded a lot of fame, glory and money in this field. In this module, we will study about some of these women. Nati Binodini (1862-1941)

Fig. 1 – Nati Binodini (get copyright for use – (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Binodini_dasi.jpg) Nati Binodini was a Calcutta based renowned actress, who began to act at the age of 12. She was originally a courtesan, who in 1874, played her first serious role in Calcutta’s National Theatre under the mentorship of Girish Chandra Ghosh. Over a career of twelve years, she played about 80 roles, including many historical characters from India and other cultures. Ramakrishna Paramahans watched her play in 1884. She was a rare woman who penned two autobiographies, based on her life and her acting career. Originally in Bangla, these were translated in the 21st century and published by Kali for Women. Her autobiographies bring to life a section of 19th century Bengal. She has not been talked about in most of the literature on the 19th century Bengal, because it seems that being originally a courtesan, it was not regarded as proper to associate with her by the elite class of the Bengali population. When the theatre ran into trouble, in order to save it, she was persuaded by Girish Chandra Ghosh to become the mistress of a rich Marwari businessman named Gurmukh Rai She agreed on the condition that Gurmukh Rai would construct a new theatre there. He built a theatre and wanted to name it after her, but later it was named Star Theatre. It was mowed down by a builder many years later while widening the road there. At the height of her career, she gave up acting and settled down to a domestic life. But her daughter died at the young age of 11 (Shoma A. Chatterji, http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071118/spectrum/main9.htm). Binodini’s life shows the complexities of a woman in 19th century Bengal who wanted to build an acting career on stage and the struggles she went through because of her origins and not having access to the resources of life. Fatma Begum (1892-1983)

Fig. 2 – Fatma Begum (get copyright from - http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/100- years-of-indian-cinema-the-first-women-directors-599939.html) She was the first woman director of Indian cinema. She had trained in acting on the stage and came into silent films. Her first film was Ardeshir Irani’s Vir Abhimanyu in 1922. She acted, wrote scripts and in 1928 established her own film studio named Fatma Films. In 1928 the name was changed to Victoria-Fatma Films. In 1926, she made Bulbul-e-Paristan and became the first woman director of Indian cinema. She had a relationship with Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III. Her three daughters, Zubeida, Sultana and Shahzadi also acted in films. Zubeida acted in the first Indian talkie film . Apart from directing films, Fatma continued to act in films and acted for Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios. Her last film was Duniya Kya Hai (1938) (Rohit Vats - http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/100-years-of-indian-cinema-the-first- women-directors-599939.html). Ruby Meyers/Sulochana (1907 – 1983)

Fig. 3 – Ruby Meyers(Sulochana) (get copyright use from - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sulochana_in_the_1920s.jpg)

Known as the “Original ” she acted in three films on this legendary character, the first being in 1928. This was remade in 1935 and again in 1953 she acted in a side role in the film of the same title. She was born in Pune in a family of Baghdadi Jews and became the highest paid stars of the silent era. She changed her name to Sulochana, by

which name she became popular. In 1930 she established her own film production house called Ruby Pics. In 1973 she was given the Dada Saheb Falke Award for lifetime achievement in cinema. In 1927 she played eight characters in Wildcats of Bombay including that of a policeman, a gardener, a Hyderabadi gentleman, a banana seller, a street urchin and a European blonde. 1928-29 took her to the peak of her career with three superhit films, the first Anarkali being one of them. Her dance tract from Madhuri from the same time was screened alongside a short film on Mahatma Gandhi in a Khadi Exhibition inauguration. When sound came to the Indian films, she had to take a year off to learn Hindi. She came back after a year and remade Madhuri in 1932, which became a superhit again. Anarkali was remade with sound in 1935 and Wildcats of Bombay was remade in Hindi in 1936, all becoming very popular. Between 1933 and 1939 she worked exclusively with D. Billimoria, but when their relationship faded, it took away their career as well. She left Imperial Studios and began to work in side roles. In 1953, she worked in Anarkali again, but this time as Salim’s mother. At the height of her career, she was drawing a salary larger than the Governor of Bombay. A film named Sulochana was made after her and she acted in it in 1933 (Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari, The Hundred Luminaries of Hindi Cinema, India Book House Publishers, 1996. P. 1871). Devika (1908-1994) She was the daughter of the first Surgeon general of Madras and was born in Waltair. She spent her childhood in and received an award in London to study the arts and music. She chose to study textile designing and architecture. She began to make a living at a young age as a textile designer. While in London, she met , the noted film producer. He persuaded her to come back to India and work in his films. She assisted him in costume design and in set design and in direction. He had a film studio in Germany called UFA in . She married him in 1929 and went with him to Berlin to work at UFA. There she learnt costume designing, make up, interior décor, acting and production. She came in contact with great directors of Germany and worked with them. When sound came to Indian cinema, she experimented with him to study the change of techniques required for the talking films. Coming back to India, they made their first talkie film Karma in 1933, which was made simultaneously in Hindi and in English and was simultaneously released in London as well as in India. Karma was received highly by the public of London. The premier was attended by Lord Irwin. With Karma she became a popular star. While in London, she was invited by the BBC to act in their first television broadcast in London. She also inaugurated their first short wave length broadcast in India. In 1934 and Himanshu Rai set up the , which produced many popular films. Himanshu Rai attracted the best talents and especially those who were educated, because he believed that education improved the standard of films. He invited experts from France, Germany and England to train young Indians. Bombay Talkies produced many highly acclaimed films and Devika Rani was the star performer in them.

Her style of acting and new approach created a distinct tradition in films in those days. She received numerous awards and was acclaimed as the greatest film actress of India. In 1936, Devika Rani and Najm-ul-Hasan worked in leading roles in . They developed a romantic relationship and eloped while the shooting was still on. Himanshu Rai was devastated as money had been taken on credit and without the leading characters, the film couldn’t go on. Shashadhar Mukherjee, an assistant sound engineer at Bombay Talkies had a brotherly relationship with Devika Rani. He persuaded her to return and complete the film. She returned on condition that henceforth, Himanshu Rai would have to bear the household expenses and would have to pay her salary for work. He agreed and she returned to complete the film. Himanshu Rai removed Najm ul Hasan from Bombay Talkies and took in , the brother-in-law of Shashadhar Mukherjee as the leading actor. Thus, Ashok Kumar entered his several decades long acting career in an unexpected manner. Devika Rani’s relationship with Himanshu Rai ended after this episode. She knew she couldn’t get a divorce in those days and marriage with Najm ul Hasan was also impossible. So they stayed together, but had only a working relationship. Najm-ul- Hasan couldn’t find work in other film studio and his career ended. Himanhu Rai died in 1940 and she began to manage and run the business of Bombay Talkies. She continued to produce highly successful films as controller and producer. Many famous film stars such as , Lila Chitnis, , etc were made in Bombay Talkies. In 1945, at the height of her film career, she decided to retire from films and married Russian painter Dr. . She was made a member of the Central Government Audio-Visual Education Board. She was also nominated to the Sangit Natya Academy by the Central Government and was a member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and of the Lalit Kala Academy. In 1958 she received the Padma Shri from the Govt of India. In 1970 she also received the Dada Saheb Falke Award (http://www.roerich.kar.nic.in/devika_rani.htm). Homai Vyarawalla (1913-2012) She was thefirst woman photojournalist of India. She got her training at the JJ School of Art. She was the daughter of an actor of the Parsi theatre. She got married in 1940 and moved to Delhi. During partition she and her husband faced great stress in Delhi. As camera technology changed, she had to continuously keep on learning to keep pace with the changing techniques of photography. Being a woman was a challenge in the field of photography, as it was largely a career for men in those days. Besides, wielding heavy camera equipment was difficult. Her favourite subject was , who she felt was very photogenic. She photographed him on many occasions, with his sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit, with Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel, with Jinnah and with the Mountbattens. She also photographed young Ram Manohar Lohia and Abul kalam Azad, in addition to Mahatma Gandhi. When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, she climbed on roof tops and photographed the crowds from difficult angles. She also photographed with Jaqueline Kennedy and with Nehru after Independence.

After her husband’s death in 1978, she moved to BITS Pilani where her son taught. He died of cancer in 1989. After that she lived alone in her flat in Baroda and did most of her housework and gardening herself even in her old age (Malavika Karlekar - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110123/jsp/opinion/story_13478946.jsp). (1919-2013) Shamshad Begum was one of the first singers in the Hindi cinema. She sang thousands of songs, many of which remain popular even today. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi and other languages. She was born in and at the age of 14, fell in love with Ganpat Lal Batto, a lawyer and despite the family objections, married him. She was spotted by her school principal as a good singer and was made the head singer during school prayers. Her ambitions to sing were met with oppositions from her family. Her uncle took her secretly to the Xenophone Company to for an audition in 1931. Ghulam Haider liked her voice so much that he gave her a contract of 12 years with facilities normally given to top singers. Her other uncle Ameer Khan convinced her father that he should allow her to sing. He agreed on the condition that she would record songs in a Burqa and would not pose for photographs. Xenophone was a renowned music company and her popularity grew amongst the rich and elite circles in the 1930s. From 1937 she began to sing on Lahore and Peshawar. This made her popular. Dilsukh Pancholi wanted her to act in his film, but her father forbade her. Her singing on the AIR caught the attention of film music directors and she began to get offers to record songs for films. Ghulam haider talked to her father and brought her to Bombay. She began to sing for his films and also for other music directors. Her voice became a great hit during the early forties. Her voice was different from her colleagues and it was greatly appreciated. After partition Ghulam Haider went to , but Shamshad Begum stayed on in Bombay. When she was singing, the Hindi film industry had many talented female singers such as , Mubarak Begum, Noorjahan, . But her popularity remained in the area of film songs. Some famous music directors such as reached the top position because of Shamshad Begum. She also sang the first Westernised song of the Hindi cinema, “Sunday ke Sunday.” This began a trend in the film industry that was adopted by others. She was the highest paid singer at this time. This was also the time when the legendary began to sing in films. She was new to the film world and was trying to establish herself. During this phase, many music directors asked her to try to imitate Shamshad Bgum’s voice, as they couldn’t afford her charges. Because of this, many of Lata Mangeshkar’s early songs sound like those of Shamshad Begum’s. In their first song together, Lata was part of the chorus, while Shamshad Begum was the main singer. Asha Bhonsle also sang in the 1940s and she was also asked to imitate Shamshad Begum’s voice. She sang many songs with Lata and Asha. Her last song with Lata was in Mughal-e-Azam. In 1960s, music directors finally began to prefer Lata’s soft voice. But whenever Shamshad Begum sang, she

became an instant hit with the audience. She began to sing less and less in the 1960s (Shamshad Begum – Singer par excellence - http://www.shamshadbegum.com/her- career/biography.html). Bhanumati Ramakrishna (1925-2005) Popularly known as Ashtavadini, Bhanumati Ramakrishna was a versatile actress, film director, producer, lyricist, music director and singer. She mostly acted in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She entered the film industry in 1935 and acted in more than 200 films. She was the top ranking actresses of Telugu cinema. She had a good voice and was an acclaimed singer as well. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1966 and in 2003. She was the member of the Lalit Kala Academy for 5 years. She also served as the Principal and the Director of Tamil Nadu Government Musical College. She published her autobiography in Telugu and many short stories. She launched a popular film production company Bharani Pictures along with her husband PS Ramakrishna Rao, a noted Telugu and Tamil filmmaker. Her father was a stage actor and loved music. Bhanumati was inspired by her father at a young age and wanted to act and sing. She received formal training in classical training at a young age. She began to act in films in 1935 and debut in Telugu cinema in 1939. Her earliest films were Malatimadhava, Bhaktimala and Dharmapatni. She became popular with the landmark film, Swargaseema. She gave a number of memorable performances in Telugu films and remained at the height of popularity for a long time.(Bhanumati Ramakrishna Biography - http://www.veethi.com/india- people/bhanumathi_ramakrishna-profile-3633-14.htm). Noor Jahan (1925/29 (?) – 2000) Born to Madad Ali and Fateh Bibi at Kot Khan, (A small village in Punjab - now in Pakistan) in the late 1920's, Melody Queen was named Allah Wasai by her parents. It is not clear exactly when Noor Jehan was born. Some put it in 1926 and others in 1929, on the 21st September. If she was born on this date in 1929 it would make her exactly a week older than another singing colossus, Lata Mangeshkar. From an early age she displayed signs of having a melodious voice, which became even more apparent by the time she was five or six years old. She could pick up just about anything - be it a folk song or popular number from a theatrical drama - imitating it to perfection. Realising her immense talent Noor Jehan's mother started her training in singing and dancing. She took up singing when she was only seven when she started making appearances on stage with her elder sisters Eidan Bai and Haider Baandi for rural theatre companies known as Taka Theatre. She did not sing original songs but the famous film hits of the day. She came to Lahore with her sisters for better opportunities where she took part in the zinda nach gana (live song and dance) which usually preceded the actual film show. Looking for an even bigger stage the sisters moved to Calcutta in 1934/1935 where Mukhtar Begum, the leading singing star of the stage, encouraged the three sisters and

recommended them to various producers. In later life Noor Jehan adopted Mukhtar Begum's style of performing and wearing of a sari. The sisters got permanent jobs with one of the Seth Sukh Karnani Companies, Indira Movie Tone. Their popularity grew as they became known as Punjab Mail. At this time, director K D Mehra was in the process of making a Punjabi film and persuaded his producer to cast the three in Pind Di Kuri (1935). And so began the film career of Baby Noor Jehan. She next acted in a film called Misar Ka Sitara (1936) by the same company and sang in it for composer Damodar Sharma. Five films later Baby Noor Jahan played the role of Heer's childhood in the film Heer Sayyal (1937). The role of Heer in this film was played by Balo, the mother of the 60's star . After four years in Calcutta it was Master Ghulam Haider who spotted her immense talent as a singer and composed songs that made her famous overnight. Baby Noor Jehan hit the nationwide rating with Gul Bakawali (1939) for renowned producer Dalsukh Pancholi in 1939 where she recorded her first film song 'Shala Jawaniyan Mane' that was an instant hit. Baby Noor Jehan's appeal changed from a child struggling to play bit parts into a young woman with immense potential ready to take off and launch her singing and acting career. When it was decided to cast her as a heroine the basic problem with the producer and the director was how to erase the impression of her being a child from public perception. They feared that she would not be accepted as a heroine by the audience that had billed her a few years earlier as a child star. The first step was to remove the 'Baby' prefix from her name, and though she was young she was big built and appeared much older than her age. Her image on screen posed no problems to the director and so was born Noor Jehan, set to enter an adult world barely in her mid-teens. After taking the role of leading lady in Nadan (1943), she was presented with second lead in Naukar (1943) while Shobhana Samarth (Indian film actress 's mother) played the heroine opposite Chandramohan. Dost (1944), directed by Rizvi, had the extremely gifted Motilal as the leading man opposite Noor Jehan, with Rizvi (who was now her husband) playing her brother in the film. It was in this film that Noor Jehan lent her voice for the first time to another actress, Husn Bano. It was in Lal Haveli (1944) that Noor Jehan starred opposite singing star Nath for the first time (they later made the all-time classic (1946)). Lal Haveli (1944) is also notable for the fact that , then a child star, acted as the young Noor Jehan. The year 1945 was a turning point for Noor Jehan. In Master Vinayak's Badi Maa (1945) she played the lead with "Baby Lata Mangeshkar" and "Baby Asha Mangeshkar" in supporting roles. During breaks in the shooting she would ask the then unknown Lata to join in impromptu singing sessions and said "Mark my words, this girl will one day become a tremendous singer." Noor Jehan's influence on the early songs of Lata is still discernible. Lata has always respected Noor Jehan and considers her one of her favourite singers. In 1946 Noor Jehan acted in the enduring classic Anmol Ghadi (1946). The title is a fitting description of the magical moments in this film with superhit songs like 'Awaz De Kahan Hai', 'Jawan Hai Mohabbat', 'Mere Bachpan Ke Saathi', 'Aaja Meri Barbad Mohabbat' and 'Kya

Mil Gaya Bhagwan' composed by Naushad to make her the undisputed queen of films if there was any doubt left about her being the diva. Composers and lyricists vied to have their creations rendered by the Queen. In the film she plays a poetess called Lata caught in a love triangle featuring the other two singing stars of that era, Suraiya and Surendra Nath. So popular was the film that Noor Jehan's other two films released that year, Dil (1946) and Humjoli (1946), were pale in comparison. In Jugnu (1947) she starred with , then a rising star. The duet 'Yahan Badla Wafa Ka Bewafai Ke Siva Kya Hai' catapulted the then struggling , into who also made a special guest appearance in the song 'Woh Apne Yaad Dilane Ko' into fame. Noor Jehan had very few duets as her voice did not require the support or enhancement of others. Her effortless emotive capabilities and her fluid grasp over the substance and essence of the lyrics is amazing, even in this day. Noor Jehan's last film in India was Mirza Sahiban (1947) which starred Prithviraj 's (Father of Raj, Shashi and , Grandfather of Rishi and , Great-Grandfather of ) brother Trilok Kapoor. Many of the songs were hits like 'Aaja Tujhe Afsana Judaai Ka Sunaye' and the duet with G M Durrani 'Haath Seene Pe Jo Rakh Do To Qarar Aaye' (Noor Jahan – Malika-e-Tarannum – http://web.archive.org/web/20080604034301/http://freespace.virgin.net/jamal.akbar/ noorbiog1.htm). Concluding Remarks The above overview shows that performing arts gave women more of an open access to shine in a career than any other field did in colonial India. Of course, their lives were full of struggles and change came slowly. Between Nati Binodini and Noor Jahan we see a lot of difference that Indian society traversed. We also see that the women who belonged to the lower rungs of society and didn’t have a proper network to survive in the performing industry had to struggle much more than those who came from better off backgrounds and had a network of artists and peers and seniors to give them opportunities. But at the end of it all, the entertainment industry is one where the most talented one who captures the imagination of the masses survives. And in order to climb the ladder of success, they had to work hard and also develop a foresight to see where their career track was going. The usual rhetoric of men reforming the women’s lives or the women enjoying success based on their caste and class didn’t work here. Moreover, this is a field that gave opportunities to the women who were born less fortunate in terms of class and caste. If they worked hard and had talent they could succeed. At the same time, women who were born in privileged families also had the opportunities to get breaks. But how long they remained in the race ultimately depended upon their talents and hard work and their ability to get mass popularity.