Bangali Actress Kanan Devi 1916

Kanan Devi (Bengali: কানন দেবী) (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali Cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of New Theatres, Kolkata.

Born	April 22, 1916(1916-04-22) Howrah, Bengal, British India
Died	July 17, 1992(1992-07-17) (aged 76) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Bengali Hindu
Occupation	Actress
Religion	Hinduism

Kanan Devi was born as Kanan Dassi in Howrah, West Bengal in or around 1916. In her autobiography, Kanan Devi has observed that she was born illegitimately. She belonged to a poor family and after the death of her adoptive father, she and her mother were left to earn and live on their own and had to do all sorts of work to drag on their lives.

Her name was soon changed to Kanan Bala. When she was only ten, a well wisher introduced her to Jyoti Studios where she was cast in a small role in Joydev (1926). She later worked with Radha Films, in films mainly by Jyotish Banerjee. After being noticed in Khooni Kaun and Maa (1934), she entered New Theatres, Calcutta. She came in contact of maestro Raichand Boral who coached her and familiarized her in the Hindi accent. She received her initial musical training under Ustad Alla Rakha. She was employed as a singer at the Megaphone Gramaphone Company, receiving further training under Bhishmadev Chatterjee. She later learnt Rabindra Sangeet under Anadi Dastidar. Her name was soon again changed to Kanan Devi for the purpose of films.

New Theatres's P.C. Barua wanted her to play the lead in his Devdas (1935), but, due to some reasons she could not act in the film. She later played the lead in Barua's Mukti (1937), which was perhaps her finest performance, making her the studio's top star. The films of New Theatres established her as a superhit singer. It was her association with K. C. Dey that people enjoyed the most. Kanan Devi remained the top star of New Theatres until she resigned her contract in 1941 and began to freelance in Bengali and Hindi films. M.P. Productions's Jawaab, was perhaps her biggest hit. Her song Yeh Duniya Hai Toofan Mail was well received. She repeated the same feast in Hospital (1943), Banphool (1945), and Rajlakshmi (1946).

She moved to Bombay in 1948. She was seen for the last time in Hindi cinema in Chandrashekhar (1948) with Ashok Kumar. Kanan Devi turned producer with Shrimati Pictures in 1949 and later launched the Sabyasachi Collective with the film Ananya (1949). Her own productions were mainly based on the stories of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Kanan Devi married her first husband, Shri Ashok Maitra, but their marriage was short-lived and ended in a divorce. However, she did express gratitude towards him for giving her social recognition for the first time in her life. Later, she married her second husband Haridas Bhattacharya, had her first and only child, a son, Siddharta Bhattacharya, and settled down, raising her family in Calcutta. She also worked as the president of Mahila Shilpi Mahal, an organization that helps aged and needy female artistes of the yesteryears and for the upliftment of Bengali cinema. Kanan Devi, the first lady of the Bengali screen was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for her contribution to Indian cinema, in 1976. She died on 17 July 1992 in Belle View Clinic, Calcutta when she was around seventy-six years of age.

Filmography

Actor

Year	Film Name	Director	Co-star	Remarks
1926	Joydev	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor
1931	Rishir Prem	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor
1931	Jore Barat	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor	Short
1932	Bishnumaya	Jyotish Bandyopadhyay	Actor
1932	Prahlad	Priyanath Ganguly	Actor
1932	Vishnu Maya	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor
1933	Sree Gouranga	Prafulla Ghosh	Actor
1933	Char Darvesh	Prafulla Ghosh	Actor	Fantasy
1934	Maa	Prafulla Ghosh	Actor
1934	Hari Bhakti	Prafulla Ghosh	Actor
1935	Kanthahaar	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor
1935	Manmoyee Girls School	Jyotish Bannerji	Actor
1935	Basabdatta	Satish Dasgupta	Actor
1936	Bishabriksha	Phani Burma	Actor
1936	Krishna Sudama	Phani Barma	Actor
1936	Khooni Kaun	G. R. Sethi	Actor
1936	Maa	Prafulla Ghosh	Actor
1937	Vidyapati	Debaki Bose	Actor
1937	Mukti	Pramathesh Chandra Barua	Actor
1937	Mukti	Pramathesh Chandra Barua	Actor
1937	Bidyapati	Debaki Bose	Actor
1938	Saathi	Phani Majumdar	Actor
1938	Street Singer	Phani Majumdar	Actor
1939	Sapera	Debaki Bose	Actor
1939	Jawani-Ki-Raat	Hemchandra Chunder	Actor
1939	Sapurey	Debaki Bose	Actor
1940	Parajay	Hemchandra Chunder	Actor
1940	Haar Jeet	Amar Mullick	Actor
1940	Abhinetri	Amar Mullick	Actor
1941	Parichay	Nitin Bose	Actor
1941	Lagan	Nitin Bose	Actor
1942	Shesh Uttar	Pramathesh Chandra Barua	Actor
1942	Jawab	Pramathesh Chandra Barua	Actor
1943	Jogajog	Sushil Majumdar	Actor
1943	Jogajog	Sushil Majumdar	Actor
1944	Bideshini	Premendra Mitra	Actor
1945	Path Bendhe Dilo	Premendra Mitra	Actor
1945	Banphool	Niren Lahiri	Actor
1945	Raj Lakshmi	Premendra Mitra	Actor
1946	Tumi Aar Aami	Apurba Kumar Mitra	Actor
1946	Krishna Leela	Debaki Bose	Actor
1946	Arabian Nights	Niren Lahiri	Actor
1947	Chandrasekhar	Debaki Bose	Actor
1947	Chandrasekhar	Debaki Bose	Actor
1947	Faisla	Apurba Kumar Mitra	Actor
1948	Bankalekha	Chitta Bose	Actor
1948	Anirban	Soumyen Mukherjee	Actor
1949	Ananya	Sabyasachi	Actor
1949	Anuradha	Pranab Roy	Actor
1950	Mejdidi	Ajay Kar	Actor
1952	Darpachurna		Actor
1954	Nababidhan	Haridas Bhattacharya	Actor
1955	Debatra	Haridas Bhattacharya	Actor
1956	Asha	Haridas Bhattacharya	Actor
1959	Indranath Srikanta-O-Annadadidi	Haridas Bhattacharya	Actor.

Playback Singer

1. Asha (1956) (playback singer)
2. Debatra (1955) (playback singer)
3. Naba Bidhan (1954) (playback singer)
4. Darpachurna (1952) (playback singer)
5. Mejdidi (1950) (playback singer)

1. Ananya (1949) (playback singer)
2. Anirban (1948) (playback singer)
3. Bankalekha (1948) (playback singer)

... aka The Crooked Writing

1. Faisla (1947) (playback singer)
2. Chandrashekhar (1947) (playback singer)
3. Arabian Nights (1946) (playback singer)
4. Krishna Leela (1946) (playback singer)

... aka Radha Krishna Prem ... aka The Story of Lord Krishna

1. Tum Aur Main (1946) (playback singer)
2. Tumi Aar Aami (1946) (playback singer)
3. Ban Phool (1945) (playback singer)
4. Path Bendhe Dilo (1945) (playback singer)
5. Rajlaxmi (1945) (playback singer)
6. Bideshini (1944) (playback singer)
7. Jogajog (1943) (playback singer)
8. Jawab (1942) (playback singer)

... aka Shesh Uttar (India: Bengali title) ... aka The Last Reply

1. Lagan (1941) (playback singer)
2. Parichay (1941) (playback singer)

... aka Acquaintance ... aka Marriage

1. Abhinetri (1940) (playback singer)
2. Haar Jeet (1940) (playback singer)

1. Jawani Ki Reet (1939) (playback singer)
2. Parajay (1939) (playback singer)
3. Sapera (1939) (playback singer)

... aka The Snake-Charmer (India: English title)

1. Sapurey (1939) (playback singer)

... aka The Snake-Charmer (India: English title)

1. Bidyapati (1937) (playback singer)
2. Mukti (1937/I) (playback singer)

... aka Freedom ... aka The Liberation of the Soul

1. Mukti (1937/II) (playback singer)
2. Vidyapati (1937) (playback singer)
3. Bishabriksha (1936) (playback singer)

... aka The Poison Tree

1. Krishna Sudama (1936) (playback singer)

... aka Krishna and Sudama

1. Manmoyee Girls School (1935) (playback singer)
2. Maa (1934) (playback singer)
3. Char Darvesh (1933) (playback singer)

... aka Merchant of Arabia (India: English title)

1. Vishnumaya (1932) (playback singer)

... aka Doings of Lord Vishnu

1. Jore Barat (1931) (playback singer)
2. Prahlad (1931/I) (playback singer)

Producer

1. Abhaya O Srikanta (1965) (producer)

1. Indranath Srikanta O Annadadidi (1959) (producer)
2. Rajlakshmi O Srikanta (1958) (producer)
3. Andhare Alo (1957) (producer)
4. Asha (1956) (producer)
5. Debatra (1955) (producer)
6. Naba Bidhan (1954) (producer)
7. Darpachurna (1952) (producer)
8. Mejdidi (1950) (producer)

1. Ananya (1949) (producer)
2. Bamuner Meye (1949) (producer)