Kanan Devi

2021-06-25T18:49:06Z

202.142.93.234:

{{Short description|Indian actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2008}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Kanan Devi
| image = Kanan Devi (1930s).jpg
| image_size = 220px
| caption = Kanan Devi in the 1930s
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1916|04|22}}
| birth_place = [[Howrah]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1992|07|17|1916|04|22}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| occupation = Actress
| nationality = [[India]]n
| parents =
}}
{{listen|type=music
| filename = আমি বনফুল গো.mp3
| title = Kanan Devi singing "Ami Banaphul Go"
| description = From the 1942 film ''Shesh Uttar''
}}
'''Kanan Devi''' (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014">{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|author3=Professor of Critical Studies Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA271|access-date=28 February 2015|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94318-9|page=88}}</ref> She was among the early singing stars of [[Indian cinema]], and is credited popularly as the first star of [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali cinema]]. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of [[New Theatres]], [[Kolkata]].

==Biography==
Kanan was born on 22 April 1916 in [[Howrah]], [[West Bengal]]. In her autobiography, entitled "Sabaray Ami Nami", Kanan has observed that those she considered as her parents were Ratan Chandra Das and Rajobala, who lived together. After the death of her adoptive father, Ratan Chandra Das, young Kanan and Rajobala were simply left to fend for themselves. Her life story is a true tale of rags to riches. Some say she did her schooling (not completed) from Howrah's St. Agnes' Convent School.

A well wisher, Tulsi Banerji, whom she called Kaka babu, introduced Kanan when she was only ten to Madan Theatres/[[Jyoti Studios]], where she was cast in a small role in ''Jaidev'' (1926), followed by Shankaracharya in 1927. She was known as Kanan Bala.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014"/>

Kanan did at least five films with [[Madan Theatres Ltd|Madan Theatres]] productions, (1926–1932) ''Rishir Prem'' (1931), ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Vishnu Maya'' (1932) and ''Prahlad'', playing even male leads in the last two.

She then worked with [[Radha Films]] from 1933 to 1936, then with New Theatres from 1937 to 1941, with MP Productions 1942 to 1948 and finally set up her own label Shrimati Pictures, 1949 to 1965.

From silent film roles as a child artist, Kanan made the successful transition into talkie films and was noticed with ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Manomoyee Girls School'', ''Khooni Kaun'' and ''Maa'' (1934).

Her films with [[Jyotish Bannerjee]] included ''Joydev'' (1926), ''Rishir Prem'' (1931), ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Vishnumaya'' (1932), ''Kantahaar'' (1935) and ''Manomoyee Girls School'' (1935). Her films with Prafulla Ghosh were ''Sree Gouranga'' (1933), ''Char Darvesh'' (1933), ''Maa'' (1934) and ''Hari Bhakti''. Others with Radha Film Company were ''Kanthahar'' (1935), ''Krishna Sudama'' (1936), ''Bishabriksha'' (1936) and ''Char Darvesh'' (1933).

[[New Theatres]]'s [[P.C. Barua]] wanted her to play the lead in his ''Devdas'' (1935),<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014"/> but, due to contractual reasons with Radha, she could not act in the film, a factor she regretted all her life.

The films of New Theatres, owned by Biren Sircar, established her as a superhit singer and her films ran to packed audiences.<ref name="Anantharaman2008">{{cite book|author=Ganesh Anantharaman|title=Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmrSLuBwbKkC&pg=PA3|access-date=28 February 2015|date=January 2008|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-306340-7|pages=3–}}</ref> She had to travel under constant protection, given her huge fan following. During her years with [[New Theatres]], [[Calcutta]] from 1937, she played the lead in Barua's ''Mukti'' (1937), which was perhaps her finest performance, making her the studio's top star. Apart from Mukti, she did ''[[Vidyapati (1937 film)|Vidyapati]]'', ''Saathi'' (1938), ''[[Street Singer (1938 film)|Street Singer]]'' (1938), ''Sapera'' (1939), ''Jawani Ki Reet'' (1939), ''Parajay'' (1939), ''Abhinetri'' (1940), ''[[Lagan (1941 film)|Lagan]]'' (1941), ''Parichay'' (1941) and ''Jawab'' (1942). She became known as Kanan Devi from this point.

She came in contact with the music maestro [[Rai Chand Boral]], who not only coached and familiarized her in the [[Hindi language|Hindi]] accent, but experimented with many classical Western and Indian forms in his music. She received her initial musical training under [[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]]. Kanan remained the top star of New Theatres until she resigned her contract in 1941 and began to freelance in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Hindi]] films.

She worked with the biggest names in Indian cinema with [[K. L. Saigal]], [[Pankaj Mullick]], Pramathesh Barua, [[Pahari Sanyal]], Chabi Biswas and [[Ashok Kumar]].

[[M.P. Productions]]'s ''Jawaab'' was perhaps her biggest hit. Her song ''Duniya Yeh Duniya, Hai Toofan Mail'' was well received. She repeated the same feat in ''Hospital'' (1943), ''Banphool'' (1945) and ''Rajlakshmi'' (1946). Kanan Devi's last Hindi film was ''Chandrashekhar'' (1948), with [[Ashok Kumar]].

Kanan 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 married [[Ashok Maitra]] in December 1940. He was the son of the staunch Brahmo Samaj educationist Heramba Chandra Maitra. Despite their best intentions, the marriage could not withstand the severe condemnation by the then conservative society. Even the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who sent a token gift to the married couple received scathing criticism for blessing the couple. The main issue was that Kanan was not expected to be working in films after her marriage. She filed for divorce in 1945. Despite the pain of the divorce, Kanan expressed her immense gratitude towards her first husband for giving her social recognition through marriage for the first time in her life. To Kanan's credit, she maintained excellent relations with Rani Mahanalobis, sister to Ashok Maitra and her husband, the famous social scientist P.C. Mahanalobis and with Kusumkumari Devi, Ashok Maitra's mother, even after the marriage was severed.

Kanan married [[Haridas Bhattacharjee]] around 1949. Haridas Bhattacharjee was then ADC to the Governor of Bengal. He eventually left the naval service to join Kanan in her filmmaking venture and became a competent director. While raising their son Siddharth in Calcutta, she also formed and worked as the president of [[Mahila Shilpi Mahal]], an organization to help senior female artists and other charitable and community causes, including those for the betterment of [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali cinema]].

Kanan Devi, as the first lady of the Bengali screen, received many honours for her contribution to Indian cinema. An honorary degree from Vishwabharati, the [[Padma Shri|Padma Shree]] in 1968 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1976.

She died on 17 July 1992 in [[Bellevue Clinic]], [[Calcutta]] when she was around seventy-six years of age.

==Honour==
[[File:Kanan Devi 2011 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Devi on a 2011 stamp of India]]
* 1942-Won [[BFJA Award]]-Best Actress Award for [[Parichaya]]
* 1943-Won [[BFJA Award]]-Best Actress Award for [[Shesh Uttar]]
She was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] Award in 1968.
She was awarded the [[Dadasaheb Phalke Award]] in 1976.
A postage stamp, bearing Kanan's likeness, was released to honour her by India's Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology in February 2011.

==Filmography==
===Actor===
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="0"
|-
! '''Year'''
! '''Film Name'''
! '''Director'''
! '''Co-star'''
! '''Remarks'''
|-
| 1926||''[[Joydev]]'' ||Jyotish Bannerji ||Actor||
|-
| 1927|| ''Shankaracharya''|| D.G. Kali Prasad|| ||
|-
| 1931||''[[Rishir Prem]]'' ||Jyotish Bannerji ||Actor||
|-
| 1931||''[[Jore Barat]]'' ||Jyotish Bannerji ||Actor|| Short
|-
| 1932||''[[Bishnumaya]]'' ||[[Jyotish Bandyopadhyay]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1932||''[[Prahlad]]'' ||[[Priyanath Ganguly]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1932||''[[Vishnu Maya]]'' ||[[Jyotish Bannerji]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1933||''Sree Gouranga'' ||Prafulla Ghosh ||Actor||
|-
| 1933||''Char Darvesh'' ||Prafulla Ghosh ||Actor||Fantasy
|-
| 1934||''Maa'' ||Prafulla Ghosh ||Actor||
|-
| 1934||''Hari Bhakti'' ||Prafulla Ghosh ||Actor||
|-
| 1935||''Kanthahaar'' ||[[Jyotish Bannerji]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1935||''[[Manmoyee Girls School]]'' ||[[Jyotish Bannerji]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1935||''Basabdatta'' ||Satish Dasgupta ||Actor||
|-
| 1936||''Bishabriksha'' ||Phani Burma ||Actor||
|-
| 1936||''Krishna Sudama'' ||Phani Barma ||Actor||
|-
| 1936||''Khooni Kaun'' ||G. R. Sethi ||Actor||
|-
| 1936||''Maa'' ||Prafulla Ghosh ||Actor||
|-
| 1937||''[[Vidyapati (1937 film)|Vidyapati]]'' ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1937||''Mukti'' ||[[Pramathesh Chandra Barua]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1937||''[[Vidyapati (film)|Vidyapati]]'' in Hindi ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1937||''Bidyapati'' (Bengali) || Debaki Bose ||Actor||
|-
| 1938||''[[Sathi (1938 film)|Sathi]]'' ||[[Phani Majumdar]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1938||''[[Street Singer (1938 film)|Street Singer]]'' ||[[Phani Majumdar]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1939||''Sapera'' ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1939||''Sapurey'' ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1940||''Jawani-Ki-Reet'' ||Hemchandra Chunder ||Actor||
|-
| 1940||''Parajay'' ||Hemchandra Chunder ||Actor||
|-
| 1940||''Haar Jeet'' ||Amar Mullick ||Actor||
|-
| 1940||''Abhinetri'' ||Amar Mullick ||Actor||
|-
| 1941||''Parichay'' ||[[Nitin Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1941||''[[Lagan (1941 film)|Lagan]]'' ||[[Nitin Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1942||''Shesh Uttar'' ||[[Pramathesh Chandra Barua]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1942||''Jawab'' ||[[Pramathesh Chandra Barua]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1943||''Jogajog'' ||Sushil Majumdar ||Actor||
|-
| 1943||''Jogajog'' ||[[Sushil Majumdar]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1944||''Bideshini'' ||Premendra Mitra ||Actor||
|-
| 1945||''[[Path Bendhe Dilo]]'' ||[[Premendra Mitra]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1945||''Banphool'' ||Niren Lahiri ||Actor||
|-
| 1945||''Raj Lakshmi'' ||[[Premendra Mitra]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1946||''Tumi Aar Aami'' ||Apurba Kumar Mitra ||Actor||
|-
| 1946||''Krishna Leela'' ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1946||''Arabian Nights'' ||[[Niren Lahiri]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1947||''Chandrasekhar'' ||[[Debaki Bose]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1947||''Faisla'' ||Apurba Kumar Mitra ||Actor||
|-
| 1948||''Bankalekha'' ||Chitta Bose ||Actor||
|-
| 1948||''Anirban'' ||Soumyen Mukherjee ||Actor||
|-
| 1949||''Ananya'' ||Sabyasachi ||Actor||
|-
| 1949||''Anuradha'' ||Pranab Roy ||Actor||
|-
| 1950||''[[Mej Didi (1950 film)|Mej Didi]]'' ||[[Ajay Kar]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1952||''Darpachurna'' ||||Actor||
|-
| 1954||''Nababidhan'' ||Haridas Bhattacharya ||Actor||
|-
| 1955||''Debatra''||Haridas Bhattacharya ||Actor||
|-
| 1956||''[[Asha]]'' ||[[Haridas Bhattacharya]] ||Actor||
|-
| 1959||''[[Indranath Srikanta O Annadadidi]]'' ||Haridas Bhattacharya ||Actor||
|-
|}

===Playback singer===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# Asha (1956) (playback singer)
# Debatra (1955) (playback singer)
# Naba Bidhan (1954) (playback singer)
# Darpachurna (1952) (playback singer)
# Mejdidi (1950) (playback singer)
# Ananya (1949) (playback singer)
# Anirban (1948) (playback singer)
# Bankalekha (1948) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Crooked Writing
# Faisla (1947) (playback singer)
# Chandrashekhar (1947) (playback singer)
# Arabian Nights (1946) (playback singer)
# Krishna Leela (1946) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Radha Krishna Prem ... a.k.a. The Story of Lord Krishna
# Tum Aur Main (1946) (playback singer)
# Tumi Aar Aami (1946) (playback singer)
# Ban Phool (1945) (playback singer)
# Path Bendhe Dilo (1945) (playback singer)
# Rajlaxmi (1945) (playback singer)
# Bideshini (1944) (playback singer)
# Jogajog (1943) (playback singer)
# Jawab (1942) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Shesh Uttar (India: Bengali title) ... a.k.a. The Last Reply
# Lagan (1941) (playback singer)
# Parichay (1941) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Acquaintance ... a.k.a. Marriage
# Abhinetri (1940) (playback singer)
# Haar Jeet (1940) (playback singer)
# Jawani Ki Reet (1939) (playback singer)
# Parajay (1939) (playback singer)
# Sapera (1939) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Snake-Charmer (India: English title)
# Sapurey (1939) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Snake-Charmer (India: English title)
# Bidyapati (1937) (playback singer)
# Mukti (1937/I) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Freedom ... a.k.a. The Liberation of the Soul
# Mukti (1937/II) (playback singer)
# Vidyapati (1937) (playback singer)
# Bishabriksha (1936) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Poison Tree
# Krishna Sudama (1936) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Krishna and Sudama
# Manmoyee Girls School (1935) (playback singer)
# Maa (1934) (playback singer)
# Char Darvesh (1933) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Merchant of Arabia (India: English title)
# Vishnumaya (1932) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Doings of Lord Vishnu
# Jore Barat (1931) (playback singer)
# Prahlad (1931/I) (playback singer)

===Producer===
# Abhaya O Srikanta (1965) (producer)
# Indranath Srikanta O Annadadidi (1959) (producer)
# [[Rajlakshmi O Srikanta]] (1958) (producer)
# Andhare Alo (1957) (producer)
# Asha (1956) (producer)
# Debatra (1955) (producer)
# Naba Bidhan (1954) (producer)
# Darpachurna (1952) (producer)
# Mejdidi (1950) (producer)
# Ananya (1949) (producer)
# Bamuner Meye (1949) (producer)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kanan Devi}}
* [http://www.kanandevi.com www.kanandevi.com]

* {{IMDb name|0222454}}

{{Dadasaheb Phalke Award}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Kanan}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:People from Howrah]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Actresses in Bengali cinema]]
[[Category:Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients]]
[[Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Indian female film singers]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Singers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Actresses from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:Women musicians from West Bengal]]

IndianPedia - User contributions [en]

Kanan Devi