Kanan Devi
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Kanan Devi (1916? - July 17, 1992) was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star actress of Bengali Cinema.[1] Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of New Theatres, Calcutta.
Kanan Devi was born as Kanan Dassi in Howrah, West Bengal in or around 1916. In her autobiography, Kanan Devi has observed that she was born out of wedlock. She belonged to a poor family and after the death of her adopted father, she and her mother were left to earn and live on their own and had to do all sorts of work to drag on their lives.
Her name was soon changed to Kanan Bala. When she was only 10, a well wisher introduced her to Jyoti Studios where she won a small role in Joydev (1926). She later worked with Radha Films, in films mainly by Jyotish Banerjee. After being noticed in Khooni Kaun and Maa (1934), she got an entry in New Theatres, Calcutta. She came in contact of maestro Raichand Boral who coached her and familiarized her in the Hindi accent. She received her initial musical training under Ustad Alla Rakha. She was employed as a singer at the Megaphone Gramaphone Company receiving further training under Bhishmadev Chatterjee. She later learnt Rabindra Sangeet under Anadi Dastidar. Her name was soon again changed to Kanan Devi.
New Theatres' P.C. Barua wanted her to play the lead in his Devdas (1935), but due to some reasons, she could not act in the film. She later played the lead in Barua's Mukti (1937) in which she gave perhaps her finest performance, making her the studio's top star. The films of New Theatres established her as a superhit singer. It was her association with K.C. Dey whom people enjoyed the most. Kanan Devi remained the top star of New Theatres till she resigned in 1941 and began to freelance in Bengali and Hindi films. M.P. Productions' Jawaab, saw perhaps her biggest hit. Her song Yeh Duniya Hai Toofan Mai rocked the entire nation that year. She repeated the same feast in Hospital (1943), Banphool (1945), and Rajlakshmi (1946).
She moved to Bombay in 1948. She was seen for the last time in Hindi cinema in Chandrashekhar (1948) with Ashok Kumar. Kanan Devi turned producer with Shrimati Pictures in 1949 and later launched the Sabyasachi Collective with the film Ananya (1949). Her own productions were mainly based on the stories of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Kanan Devi married her first husband, Shri Ashok Maitra, but their marriage was short-lived and ended in a divorce. However, she did express gratitude towards him for giving her social recognition for the first time in her life. Later, she married her second husband Haridas Bhattacharya, had her first and only child, a son, Siddharta Bhattacharya, and settled down for a happy life raising her family in Calcutta. She also worked as the president of Mahila Shilpi Mahal, an organization that helps aged and needy female artistes of the yesteryears and for the upliftment of Bengali cinema. Kanan Devi, the first lady of the Bengali screen was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for her contribution to Indian cinema, in 1976. She passed away on July 17, 1992 in Belle View Clinic, Calcutta when she was around 76 years of age.
