KaleyCountryman at 21:14, 20 March 2026

2026-03-20T21:14:14Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ermeline
| image = Ermeline Sudhabala.jpg
| caption = Cardozo posing for a magazine, 1933
| birth_date = {{birth date|1908|5|7|df=y}}
| birth_name = Ermelinda Cardozo
| birth_place = [[Divar]], [[Goa]], [[Portuguese India]]
| citizenship = {{ubl|
* Portugal (until 1961)
* India (from 1961)
}}
| occupation = Actress
| spouse = [[Saib Rocha]]
| other_names = Sudhabala
| years_active =
| notable_works = ''[[Draupadi (1931 film)|Draupadi]]'' (1931)
}}

'''Ermelinda Cardozo''' (7 May 1908 – unknown), also known [[mononymously]] as '''Ermeline''', and later by her stage name '''Sudhabala''', was an Indian actress from the [[silent era]] of [[Hindi cinema|Hindi films]]. She is often credited with providing the first significant acting job to [[Prithviraj Kapoor]], the patriarch of the [[Kapoor family]] in the [[Bollywood|Hindi film industry]]. Along with [[Patience Cooper]], [[Ruby Myers]], and [[Seeta Devi (actress)|Sita Devi]], she is credited as a "leading star" of the 1920s and 1930s who had more mass appeal than their male counterparts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jubilee Is a Beautifully Mounted Show About the 1930s but the Women Pioneers Have Been Erased |url=https://thewire.in/culture/jubilee-series-review |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=thewire.in |language=en |archive-date=7 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407183554/https://thewire.in/culture/jubilee-series-review |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early life==
Ermelinda Cardozo was born on 7 May 1908, to Paulo Faustino Cardoso and Maria Joaquina de Souza<ref name="TOI1">{{Cite news |date=2016-11-20 |title=A star who held her own in the reel world |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/a-star-who-held-her-own-in-the-reel-world/articleshow/55518673.cms |access-date=2024-04-08 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257 |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726173150/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/a-star-who-held-her-own-in-the-reel-world/articleshow/55518673.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> in the [[Divar|island of Divar]], [[Goa]], which was part of [[Portuguese India]] during the [[Portuguese Empire]]. Suffering from financial constraints from early days of her life, she never really had any formal education as her parents brought her to [[Bombay]], [[British India]] in search of work. She was illiterate.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Career==
Cardozo started off her career with the film ''Bhishma Pitamah'' under the banner of Star Films in 1922. The film starred actor Madanrai Vakil opposite her. Being the first actress of [[Goan]] descent, she went on to feature in around sixty odd films and was fondly called "[[Mary Pickford]] of India". She, along with [[Ruby Myers|Sulochana]], went on to be one of the earliest [[sex symbol]]s of Indian cinema since they were overly sexualized.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-04-28 |title=Silent knights and item songs |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/silent-knights-and-item-songs/articleshow/19757737.cms |access-date=2024-04-08 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257 |archive-date=7 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407192049/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/silent-knights-and-item-songs/articleshow/19757737.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cardozo is also credited as one of the earliest film artists who took stand against [[sexual harassment]] at workplace. A news item, "Film Star's Story; Incidents at Hill Station," which appeared in ''[[The Times of India]]'' on 15 September 1927, reported that she went to court, charging the director and chairman of the Shri Krishna Cinema Company with [[indecent assault]]. During the shoot of ''Burkhawali'' at [[Matheran]], she went to the [[Superintendent of Police]] that cameraman Chaturbhai Patel and film director [[Kanjibhai Rathod]] had entered her hotel room and outraged her modesty. The first magistrate who tried the case found that the complaints were false and ordered her to pay Rs. 100. A second judge reversed this judgment because he found the first magistrate to have been biased by the fact that Cardozo was an untutored woman of loose morals and bad association.<ref name=Cinemaazi/>

Cardozo is often credited with giving [[Prithviraj Kapoor]] his first big break in Hindi cinema. It so happened that the actor who was originally cast as the male lead failed to appear for the shooting of the film. This sent the filmmaker into frenzy and he asked Cardozo to pick the leading man from the throng of people who came there to see her. She handpicked Prithviraj, who by then had acted in a few bit roles. This film was ''Cinema Girl'' which released in 1930.<ref name=Cinemaazi/> The advent of talkies posed a threat to Cardozo's career as she was not well versed with the [[Hindustani language]]. She was then restricted to play the role of [[vamp (woman)|vamps]] and eventually faded away from the film scene.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Her most important film role was that of [[Draupadi]] in the 1931 mythological costume drama of the same name. Her other films include ''Zalim Jawani, Sarovar Ki Sundari, Swapna Sundari'' and ''Sharif Badmash'' to name a few.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Personal life==
Cardozo married [[Saib Rocha]], a leading ''[[tiatrist]]'' (theatre performer) of that time. The most popular ''[[tiatr]]'' (theatre production) in which she acted was Lusitanian Dramatic Company's ''Alma Vetat Sorgar'' on 17 October 1932.<ref name="Cinemaazi">{{cite web |title=Ermeline |url=https://www.cinemaazi.com/public/people/ermeline |access-date=26 July 2024 |website=Cinemaazi |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726173117/https://www.cinemaazi.com/public/people/ermeline |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Death==
Not much is known about how Cardozo died. When film historian [[Bhagwan Das Garga]] wrote a [[Column (periodical)|column]] appealing for financial help for Cardozo who has turned pauper, she got him fired from his job. While some sources claim that she died broke, others believe she died in an accident on the sets of an unnamed film.<ref name=TOI1/>

==Filmography==
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* ''Bhishma Pitamah'' (1922)
* ''Sharif Badmash'' (1924)
* ''Lalan Vanzari'' (1925)
* ''Kamlata'' (1925)
* ''Hothal Padmini'' (1925)
* ''Swapna Sundari'' (1925)
* ''Anath Abla'' (1925)
* ''Chandrakant'' (1925)
* ''Veer Kesri'' (1926)
* ''Boltu Bulbul'' (1926)
* ''Ram Bharose'' (1926)
* ''Panch Kalyan Aur Parijatak'' (1926)
* ''Love Is Blind'' (1926)
* ''Khoobsurat Bala'' (1926)
* ''Amar Asha'' (1926)
* ''Be Dinani Badshahi'' (1926)
* ''Burkhawali'' (1926)
* ''The Victim'' (1926)
* ''Kicks of Kismet'' (1927)
* ''Tainted Virtue'' (1927)
* ''Shree Jagadguru'' (1928)
* ''Madan Manjari'' (1928)
* ''Ek Abla'' (1928)
* ''Puran Bhagat'' (1928)
* ''Sarovar Ki Sundari'' (1928)
* ''Geeta Rahasya'' (1928)
* ''Hoor E Bagdhad'' (1928)
* ''Haya Na Haar'' (1928)
* ''Chandrahas'' (1928)
* ''Pandav Patrani'' (1928)
* ''Kamla Kumari'' (1928)
* ''Lal Vavto'' (1929)
* ''Raj Ramni'' (1929)
* ''Gulshan E Arab'' (1929)
* ''Do Dhari Talwar'' (1929)
* ''Vijay Kumar'' (1930)
* ''Nai Roshni'' (1930)
* ''Cinema Girl'' (1930)
* ''Vasant Bengali'' (1930)
* ''Raj Tilak'' (1931)
* ''[[Draupadi (1931 film)|Draupadi]]'' (1931)
* ''Toofani Taruni'' (1931)
* ''Namak Haram Kaun'' (1931)
* ''Golibari'' (1931)
* ''Toofan Tufani'' (1931)
* ''Zalim Jawani'' (1932)
* ''Kalo Sawar'' (1932)
* ''Abad Chor'' (1933)
* ''Azad Abla'' (1934)
* ''Khazana (1934)''
* ''Raj Tarang'' (1935)
* ''Prisoner of Golconda'' (1954)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0259598}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermeline}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Tiatrists]]
[[Category:Actors from North Goa district]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Indian silent film actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]

Ermeline - Revision history

KaleyCountryman at 21:14, 20 March 2026