Sabita Devi -- Info From Old Urdu Book
Afzal A. Khan
Here is the write-up about Sabita Devi :
She was born in a respectable and affluent Anglo-Indian
family in Calcutta in 1914. After completing her
education, she wanted to lead an independent life-style.
Accordingly, she wanted to join the film industry and sought
her parents' permission in this regard. They knew the ins
and outs of this industry and realized the pitfalls facing
a young, innocent and beautiful girl. So they were not
inclined to give her their permission. But the young girl
was determined to have her way. And, therefore, without
her parents' knowledge, she secretly sent her bio and photos
to British Dominion Film Company, Calcutta, in 1926. That
Company conveyed their willingness to avail of her services.
But when her parents came to know about this, they forbade
her to accept the above offer. She was so disheartened at
this refusal that her health was badly affected. And ulti-
mately, her parents, perforce, allowed her to join the film
industry. In the beginning, she felt very shy before the
film cameras but, gradually, she overcame this shyness. Her
first film was "Roopia Kya Kuchh NaheeN Kar Sakta" and the
film-goers came to recognize this new face. The film was
fairly successful. She then worked in a few silent films like
"Apradhi" and "Saubhagya Lakshmi". Just as her popularity was
increasing, the era of silent films was coming to an end. The
advent of the the Talkie-Film-Era proved a great setback to
Sabita, as she didn't know the hindustaani language. But since
she was smitten with the glare and glamour of the film world,
she quickly learnt the Indian languages and soon joined East
India Film Company. Her successful films in the Talkie-Era
included "Jamuna Puliney", "Ek Din Ki Baadshaahat", "Taaleem~yafta
Biwi", "Silver King", "Shehar Ka Jadoo", "Chandragupta" and
"Achhoota Daman" etc. She now became very popular with film -
goers.
Her success in the film industry is due entirely to her own hard
work. In her acting, she avoids vulgarity and artificiality.
She is all in favour of girls from decent families joining the
film industry. She knows that the film-line is full of wolves
trying to take advantage of innocent and naive young girls. But
she believes that, if a girl is determined to avoid their traps
and does not let her heart rule her mind, no man can take undue
advantage of her innocence.
She is crazy about music and is adept at playing the harmonium
and piano. She is fond of poetry and literature too. She is very
fluent in the English language and is now fairly proficient in the
Urdu language too.
Her latest films are "Bombay Ki Sayr" and "Prarthna".
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And now for some graphic descriptive passages in Urdu :
"...chaaNdni kee tarah safed jism, Anglo-Indian husn ka ek
shoKH muraqqa', sumbul kee tarah chamak~daar siaah gesoo,
kushaada peshaani, ghane abroo, jugnoo kee tarah chamak~daar
nargisi aaNkheN, surKH hoN'T, bholaa~bhaala chehra, jis se
ma'soomiyat Tapakti rehti hai......."
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Afzal
seth...@yahoo.com
Great writeup Afzal Saheb . The author failed to mention
about some of her famous movies of 1930's . Her role as a busy doctor
opposite Motilal was very successful one . I donot recall the movie
now .
Regards ,
s
Surjit Singh
Thanks Afzal.
In Hindi films there is another Sabita (Chatterji) who probably started
in mid-fifties and acted in Nazrana, Bat Ek Rat Ki, Sangeet Samrat
Tansen, possibly up to Rahgeer 1969. Consulting Geet Kosh we find
another Sabita Devi starting from Dada 1966 and continuing until at
least Naya Rasta 1970. I am assuming it is a different one.
>
>
> Afzal
--
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
Afzal A. Khan
>
>
> Afzal A. Khan wrote:
>>
>>
>> Here is the write-up about Sabita Devi :
{ Write-up deleted }
>
> Thanks Afzal.
>
> In Hindi films there is another Sabita (Chatterji) who probably started
> in mid-fifties and acted in Nazrana, Bat Ek Rat Ki, Sangeet Samrat
> Tansen, possibly up to Rahgeer 1969. Consulting Geet Kosh we find
> another Sabita Devi starting from Dada 1966 and continuing until at
> least Naya Rasta 1970. I am assuming it is a different one.
Sabita Chatterji was a small-time character actress/comedienne
who usually teamed up with comic actors like Johnny Walker. She
can be recognized in the film "12 O'Clock" (stg. Guru Dutt) where
she is made to sing a song with Johnny Walker "Dekh idhar ai
haseena, June ka hai maheena".
Afzal
Narsingh
"registered" so that a second person cannot take a name that is
already registered (as a result some actors were forced to adopt a
different name since their own name was already in use and
registered). A similar system in Bollywood should have helped with the
confusion regarding duplicate or almost duplicate names.
Narsingh