Parbati Ghose (born Chapala Nayak; 28 March 1933 – 11 February 2018) was an Indian actress, film director and film producer. Ghose was the first female

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

from the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Early life

Ghose, who was one of eight siblings, was born as Chapala Nayak on 28 March 1933 in Manasinghpatana, Cuttack district,

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 father, Basudev Naik, managed the Manmohan Press, a prominent

book publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. Ghose attended Sanat Nalini Girls High School. She also trained as a dancer under

Kelucharan Mohapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is ...

, Dayal Sharma, and Suresh Routray.

Career

Ghose began her career as a child voice actor on

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 ...

before transitioning to on-screen film roles. She made her film debut as child artist of character Nila Madhav in 1949 film, ''Shri Jagannath''. Her big break came in the 1953 film '' Amari Gaan Jhua'' (''Our Village Girl''), where she was cast as the female lead actress. Amari Gaan Jhua, which explored the controversial practice of

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...

, won her positive reviews. In 1956, Ghose appeared as the lead actress in the successful

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

film, '' Bhai Bhai'', alongside her future husband,

Gour Prasad Ghose Gour may refer to: * Hari Singh Gour (1870-1949), Indian lawyer, educator, and writer * Joseph-Omer Gour (1893-1959), Canadian politician * Rimstone, a cave formation * Gauḍa (city), a medieval Indian city * Gour, a place in Malda district, West ...

, who was also the producer. ''Bhai Bhai'', which showcased her prowess as a lead actress, greatly increased her profile in the Indian film industry. It also led to her interest in film directing and production. Thereafter Ghose appeared in '' Maa'' in 1959, also produced by Gour Prasad Ghose. Parbati Ghose and her husband produced, co-directed and acted in ''Lakshmi'' (1962), ''Kaa'' (1965), ''Stree'' (1968). These three films won them three national film awards for their work as directors and producers. A few years later, she produced and directed ''

Chha Mana Atha Guntha ''Chha Mana Atha Guntha'' is a 1986 Indian Odia language feature film directed and produced by Parbati Ghose.Bijay Mohanty and Parbati Ghose played lead roles in the film and Sarat Pujari in a negative role. The movie is based on the novel '' Si ...

'' in 1986. She had worked in Hindi and Bengali language

Telefilms A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

like 'Prashna' and 'Sopan'. She also appeared in ''Sansaar'' in 1971. Her last film as a director and producer was '' Salabega'' in 1998.

Filmography

*''Shri Jagannath'' (1949) (child artist) *'' Amari Gaan Jhua'' (1953) *'' Bhai Bhai'' (1956) *'' Maa'' (1959) *''

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

'' (1962) (produced, co-directed and acted) *''

Kaa Kaa is a fictional character from ''The Jungle Book'' stories written by Rudyard Kipling. He is a giant snake who is 30 feet long. In the books and many of the screen adaptations, Kaa is an ally of main protagonist Mowgli, acting as a friend ...

'' (1965) (produced, co-directed and acted) *'' Stree'' (1968) (produced, co-directed and acted) *'' Sansaar'' (1971) *''

'' (1986) (produced and directed) *''Salabega'' (1998) (produced and directed) *''Prashna'' (telefilm) *''Sopan'' (telefilm)

Personal life

In 1959, she married Gourprasad Ghose and adopted the name Parbati Ghose, given to her by her new in-laws.

Death

Ghose died on 11 February 2018, at the age of 84 in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. The state government of Odisha held a state funeral in her honor.

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

, the

Chief Minister of Orissa The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followin ...

, paid tribute to Parbati Ghose and her contributions to the local and national film industry, noting that "She was an actor, director and producer at the same time. In early days of

Odia cinema The Odia film industry, colloquially known as Ollywood, is the Odia language Indian film industry, based in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack in Odisha, India. The name Ollywood is a portmanteau of the words Odia and Hollywood. Industry In 1974, th ...

, she single-handedly uplifted it to a new level. She was really a symbol of women's empowerment when an idea like empowerment was unheard of. Her departure is a great loss to our industry and the world of

silver screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

. She will always be remembered for her contribution to Odia cinema."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghose, Parbati 1933 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian women artists Businesswomen from Odisha Film directors from Odisha Film producers from Odisha Indian film actresses Indian radio actresses Indian women film directors Indian women film producers Indian women filmmakers Odia film directors Odia film producers People from Cuttack district Women artists from Odisha