| Binodini Dasi | |
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Binodini Dasi |
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| Born | Binodini Dasi 1862 |
| Died | 1941 (aged 79) |
| Other names | Notee Binodini |
| Occupation | Drama Actress |
Binodini Dasi (1862–1941), also known as Notee Binodini, was a Calcutta-based, Bengali-speaking renowned actress and thespian.[1] She started acting at the age of 12 and ended by the time she was 23, as she later recounted in her noted autobiography, Amar Katha (The Story of My Life) published in 1913.[2]
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Born to prostitution, she started her career as a courtesan and at twelve she played her first serious drama role in Calcutta's National Theatre in 1874, under the mentorship of its founder, Girish Chandra Ghosh.[3] Her career coincided with the popularity of the proscenium-inspired form of European theatre among the Bengali theatergoing audience. During a career spanning twelve years she enacted over eighty roles, which included those of Pramila, Sita, Draupadi, Radha, Ayesha, Kaikeyi, Motibibi, and Kapalkundala, among others. She was one of the first South Asian actresses of the theater to write her own autobiography.
Her sudden retirement from the stage is insufficiently explained. As a leading actress she was passionately devoted to the development of theatre in Bengal. She made monetary contributions to build up the once famous Star Theatre in Calcutta, which she wanted to be named after her. In her autobiography, she has admitted to the fact that in order to help procure funds for the Star Theatre and its company, she agreed to become the mistress of a rich businessman for some time.
Sri Ramakrishna, a saint of 19th century Bengal, came to see her play in 1884, and visited Binodini backstage afterwards - an event which left a deep impression on the actress who became an ardent devotee of Ramkrishna soon after.[4] During her bygone days of glory, she was referred to as the Flower of the Native Stage and the Moon of the Star Theatre. She was a pioneering entrepreneur of the Bengali stage and introduced modern techniques of stage make-up through blending European and indigenous styles.
Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee who has written the introduction to the recent reprint of her autobiography, mentions that the chroniclers of the theater movement in 19th century Bengal make no reference to Binodini. This may be partly explained as an instance of class-caste divide, as most 19th actresses in India hailed from the ranks of prostitutes and Binodini was seen as no exception to that rule. The upper class Brahmin-Brahmo dominated establishment that spearheaded the Bengal Renaissance felt it improper to acknowledge the merits of the talented lowly born. Her contribution to the establishment and enrichment of the organizations she was associated with, has been largely glossed over.
Her autobiography is lucid and explores a section of the 19th century Bengali world, at ease with European ideas, but conscious enough to carefully subjugate the female to the domain of the household. Women who talked of and expressed in their lives the very embodiment of liberated femininity were, surreptitiously viewed from a distance, to be loved and be the object of scorn—and never aspire to respectable notions of femininity.
Nati Binodini, a play based on her autobiography, "Aamar Kathaa" was first presented by NSD Repertory Company in 1995 with the lead role done by actor, Seema Biswas, then in 2006, noted theatre director Amal Allana directed a play by the same name which premiered in Delhi.[5][6][7]