Padma Devi (1917–1983) was a popular

Indian Bengali Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of S ...

Hindi/Hindustani

Film Actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

and playback singer of

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

, in the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

and the early

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

. Starting her career with the main role in ''Sea Goddess'' (1931), directed by Dhirubhai Desai and produced by Saroj Film Company, Padma went on to act in over one hundred films in her career.

Early years

Padma Devi was born on 1917 in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

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 ...

. Her ancestral home was

Madaripur Madaripur ( bn, মাদারীপুর ), being a part of the Dhaka Division, is a district in central Bangladesh. History Madaripur subdivision was established in 1854 under the district of Bakerganj. In 1873 it was separated from Bakerganj ...

. Her real name was Nilima.

Career

Padma Devi was one of the earliest action heroines of the Indian Cinema. She started her career with ''Sea Goddess'', filmed in 1931, and was often cast with "dare-devil"

Boman Shroff Boman Shroff was an actor, stunstman, director, writer, producer in Hindi cinema, in the silent era and the early talkies. Boman started working in Hindi movies prior to Talkies and was on monthly payroll of JBH Wadia and Homi Wadia's various m ...

in a stream of successful stunt films such as ''The Amazon'', directed and produced by

JBH Wadia Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia (13 September 1901 – 4 January 1986), commonly referred to as J. B. H. Wadia, was a prominent Bollywood movie director, screenwriter, producer and founder of Wadia Movietone Studio. He was born in prominent Parsi famil ...

, released in 1933. In his unpublished autobiography, Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia wrote:

“I made my last silent thriller 'The Amazon' or 'Dilruba Daku' th Padma in the stellar role. The ory was the reverse of 'Thunderbolt', with Padma as the masked woman and saviour of the people. Of course, I had to avail of a duplicate in female garb to enact her stunts. Even so, Padma had become an adept in fight sequences and her youth and beauty added glamour to the film. It was the box office success of 'The Amazon' which had induced me to sign Fearless Nadia in my talkies to come, with whom I was to make that super-stunt film 'Hunterwali' and take the Indian film world by storm. (Wadia 1978: ch. 43).”

Kisan Kanya ''Kisan Kanya'' was a 1937 in film, 1937 Bollywood, Hindi Cinecolor feature film which was directed by Moti Gidwani and produced by Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Pictures. It is largely remembered by the Indian public on account of it being India's ...

'' starring Padma Devi is the first indigenously made color movie which was released in 1937. Her work was appreciated in movies like ''

Chalti Duniya ''Chalti Duniya'' is a 1940 Bollywood film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stori ...

'', ''

Hindustan Hamara ''Hindustan Hamara'' is a 1940 Bollywood film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, sto ...

'', ''Jini Ram Tini Krishno Ek-i Dehe Ramkrishna'', ''Sree Sree Ramkrishna Kathamrita'', ''Maa Bhabani Maa Amar'' and many more. She has also sung in several films; ''Sati Mahananda'' (1933)'', Maharani'' (1934)'', Bahen Ka Prem'' (1935)'', Sangdil Samaj'' (1936), ''

'' (1937) and ''Zamana'' (1938) are notable among them. Parallel to her Bollywood career, Padma has also worked in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

language cinema.

Filmography

Padma Devi acted in over one hundred films in her career. A partial list:

Last Days

Padma Devi died on 1 February 1983.

External links

References

{{reflist Bengali people Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema 1917 births 1983 deaths