KANAN DEVI

Today is the  death anniversary of  Kanan Devi, the popular Actress and Singer  of Hindi and Bengali Cinema  of  the  bygone era. Forced to work at a very young age due to indigent  circumstances, hers is a fine example of a rags-to riches story. She worked as a child artist  in silent movies .Later  she worked with big names of Cinema like K.L.Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, , Ashok Kumar and Pahari Sanyal. She acted in films - Vidyapati, Street Singer,Sapera ,lagan, Parichay, Jawaab and some others. She started singing under the tutelage of Rai Chand  Boral , who coached her in singing  Hindi songs and also taught her the nuances of Western Music. She learnt classical music from Ustad Alla Rakha  and Rabindra Sangeet from  Anadi Dastidar. Her hindi song- Duniya ye Duniya  Toofan Mail- became a rage of the times.  She turned to  producing films in 1949 and  made films mainly on the stories of Sharatchandra  Chattopadhyay , the doyen of Bengali Literature.

She was a recipient of Padma Shri in 1968 and Dadasaheb Phalke  Award in 1978.

Our humble tributes  !