Arundhati Devi (; also known as Arundhati Mukherjee or Mukhopadhyay) (1924 – 1990) was an Indian actress, director, writer and singer who is predominantly known for her work in Bengali cinema. Arundhati Devi was a student of

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

where she was trained in

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' (; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengalis, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the ...

Sailajaranjan Majumdar Sailajaranjan Majumdar (19 July 1900 – 24 May 1992) was a distinguished exponent and teacher of Rabindra Sangeet. Early life The son of Ramanikishore and Saralasundari Majumdar, Sailajaranjan was born at Baham, Netrokona, now in Bangladesh ...

. She began her career as a Rabindra Sangeet singer at

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

in 1940. As an actress, Arundhati Devi made her film debut in Kartik Chattopadhyay's Bengali film ''Mahaprasthaner Pathe'' (1952) which also had a Hindi version under the title '' Yatrik''. Further on she collaborated with directors such as Devaki Kumar Bose in ''Nabajanma'' (1956), Asit Sen in ''Chalachal'' (1956) and ''Panchatapa'' (1957), Prabhat Mukhopadhyay in ''Maa'' (1956), ''Mamata'' (1957), '' Bicharak'' (1959) and ''Akashpatal'' (1960), and

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...

in ''Kalamati'' (1958), ''Jhinder Bondi'' (1961), '' Jatugriha'' (1964). In 1963, she was conferred with

BFJA Award for Best Actress Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

for her role in the

National Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian P ...

winning Bengali film ''Bhagini Nivedita'' (1962) directed by Bijoy Bose. In 1967, she was conferred with the National Film Award for Best Film Based On High Literary Work for her directorial debut ''Chutti'' at the

14th National Film Awards The 14th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1966. The awards were presented on 10 October 1967 at the Vi ...

Personal life

Arundhati was born in

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now Bangladesh). In 1955 she had a short-lived marriage with the director Prabhat Mukherjee. However, in 1957 she met film director

at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

and they eventually got married. Their son is scientist Anindya Sinha. She died on 16 October 1990.

Filmography

As actress

*1976 ''Harmonium'' *1965 '' Surer Agun'' *1964 '' Jatugriha'' as Madhuri *1963 ''Nyayadanda'' *1962 '' Shiulibari'' *1962 '' Bhagini Nivedita'' as

Sister Nivedita Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...

*1961 '' Jhinder Bondi'' *1960 ''Khudita Pashan'' *1960 ''Indradhanu'' *1960 ''Akash-Patal'' *1959 '' Bicharak'' (she became a Producer) *1959 ''Shashi Babur Sansar'' *1959 ''Pushpadhanu'' *1958 '' Kala Mati'' *1958 '' Shikar'' *1958 ''Manmoyee Girls' School'' as Niharika *1956 ''Chalachal'' *1956 ''Nabajanma'' *1955 ''Dashyumohan'' as Chapala alias Miss Sandhya Ray *1955 ''Du-janay'' *1955 ''Godhuli'' *1954 '' Chheley Kaar'' as Mili *1954 ''Nad-o-Nadi'' *1952 ''Mahaprasthaner Pathey'' as Rani *1952 '' Yatrik'' as Rani (the Hindi Version of the well-known Bengali film ''Maha Prasthaner Pathe'', in which she played the same role of Rani)

As director

*1985 ''Gokul'' *1983 ''Deepar Prem'' *1972 ''Padi Pishir Barmi Baksha'' *1969 ''

Megh o Roudra ''Megh o Roudra'' (English: Clouds and Sunshine) is a Bengali drama film directed by Arundhati Devi and produced by Ajitesh Bandopadhyay based on Rabindranath Tagore's short story by the same name. This film was released in 1969 under the banne ...

'' *1967 ''Chhuti'' (also script writer and music composer)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Arundhati Bengali film directors Bengali Hindus Film directors from Kolkata 1924 births 1990 deaths Indian women film directors Visva-Bharati University alumni University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian women artists Actors from Barisal 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses from Kolkata Bengali actresses Actresses in Bengali cinema Indian women screenwriters 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Bengali screenwriters Bengali film score composers 20th-century Indian composers Screenwriters from Kolkata Women musicians from West Bengal People from New Alipore 20th-century Indian women composers 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian women writers