Arundhati Devi (; also known as Arundhati Mukherjee or Mukhopadhyay) (1924 – 1990) was an Indian actress, director, writer and singer who is predominantly known for her work in
Bengali cinema.
Arundhati Devi was a student of
Visva-Bharati University
Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...
where she was trained in
Rabindra Sangeet
''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in ...
by
Sailajaranjan Majumdar. She began her career as a Rabindra Sangeet singer at
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
in 1940. As an actress, Arundhati Devi made her film debut in Kartik Chattopadhyay's Bengali film ''Mahaprasthaner Pathe'' (1952) which also had a Hindi version under the title ''
Yatrik
Yatrik, a 1952 Indian film directed by ''Kartick Chatterjee'', depicts a group of pilgrims on an arduous trek in the high Himalayas. It is the Hindi-language version of the Bengali film '' Mahaprasthaner Pathey'', the film made from the book of ...
''. Further on she collaborated with directors such as Devaki Kumar Bose in ''Nabajanma'' (1956), Asit Sen in ''Chalachal'' (1956) and ''Panchatapa'' (1957), Prabhat Mukhopadhyay in ''Maa'' (1956), ''Mamata'' (1957), ''
Bicharak'' (1959) and ''Akashpatal'' (1960), and
Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...
in ''Kalamati'' (1958), ''Jhinder Bondi'' (1961), ''
Jatugriha'' (1964). In 1963, she was conferred with
BFJA Award for Best Actress for her role in the
National Award
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...
winning Bengali film ''Bhagini Nivedita'' (1962) directed by Bijoy Bose. In 1967, she was conferred with the
National Film Award for Best Film Based On High Literary Work for her directorial debut ''Chutti'' at the
14th National Film Awards.
Personal life
Arundhati was born in
Barisal
Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...
,
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
, in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(now Bangladesh). In 1955 she had a short-lived marriage with the director Prabhat Mukherjee. However, in 1957 she met film director
Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...
at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
and they eventually got married. Their son is scientist
Anindya Sinha
Anindya (Rana) Sinha is an Indian primatologist. He is a professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), India.
Early life
After obtaining an undergraduate degree in botany from the University of Calcutta in 1983, he went on to e ...
. She died on 1 January 1990.
Filmography
As actress
*1976 ''Harmonium''
*1964 ''
Jatugriha'' as Madhuri
*1963 ''Nyayadanda''
*1962 ''
Shiulibari''
*1962 ''
Bhagini Nivedita'' as
Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...
*1961 ''
Jhinder Bondi''
*1960 ''Khudita Pashan''
*1960 ''Indradhanu''
*1960 ''Akash-Patal''
*1959 ''
Bicharak'' (she became a Producer)
*1959 ''Shashi Babur Sansar''
*1959 ''Pushpadhanu''
*1958 ''Manmoyee Girls' School'' as Niharika
*1956 ''Chalachal''
*1956 ''Nabajanma''
*1955 ''Dashyumohan'' as Chapala alias Miss Sandhya Ray
*1955 ''Du-janay''
*1955 ''Godhuli''
*1954 ''
Chheley Kaar'' as Mili
*1954 ''Nad-o-Nadi''
*1952 ''Mahaprasthaner Pathey'' as Rani
*1952 ''
Yatrik
Yatrik, a 1952 Indian film directed by ''Kartick Chatterjee'', depicts a group of pilgrims on an arduous trek in the high Himalayas. It is the Hindi-language version of the Bengali film '' Mahaprasthaner Pathey'', the film made from the book of ...
'' as Rani (the Hindi Version of the well-known Bengali film ''Maha Prasthaner Pathe'', in which she played the same role of Rani)
As director
*1985 ''Gokul''
*1983 ''Deepar Prem''
*1972 ''Padi Pishir Barmi Baksha''
*1969 ''
Megh o Roudra''
*1967 ''Chhuti'' (also script writer and music composer)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Arundhati
Bengali film directors
Bengali Hindus
Film directors from Kolkata
1924 births
1990 deaths
Indian women film directors
Visva-Bharati University alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
20th-century Indian women artists
20th-century Indian film directors
People from Barisal
20th-century Indian actresses
Actresses from Kolkata
Bengali actresses
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Indian women screenwriters
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Bengali screenwriters
Bengali film score composers
Indian women composers
20th-century Indian composers
Screenwriters from Kolkata
20th-century Indian women musicians
Women musicians from West Bengal
People from New Alipore
20th-century women composers
19th-century women composers
20th-century Indian screenwriters