Durga Bai Kamat with sons.
Talking about the first female star of Indian cinema, Devika Rani’s name comes first on the Internet. She made her debut in the film ‘Karma’ in the year 1933 and was in the discussion about the kissing scene in her first film. The name of ‘Fatima Begum’ also appears as the first female artist on searching a little more on the Internet. In 1922, the departed actress made her debut in Hindi cinema through Ardeshir Irani’s silent film ‘Veer Abhimanyu’. She later became a producer-director. But, do you know that this information on the Internet is false, because Indian cinema got the first female artist from the 1913 film ‘Mohini Bhasmasura’.
Vikram Gokhale was the first female artist in India
In the year 2022, the film actors’ organization Cine and Television Artist Association (CINTAA) organized a tribute meeting in memory of veteran actor Vikram Gokhale. During this gathering, it was found that his great -grandfather was also a part of cinema. After further investigation, it was found that Gokhale’s Pardadi is the first female star of Indian cinema and her name was Durga Bai Kamat. Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, gave Kamat a chance in his second film ‘Mohini Bhasmasura’ in November 1913.
When Dadasaheb Phalke produced his first film ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in the year 1913, no female artist agreed to work in the film, so Dadasaheb Phalke chose Anna Salunke for the role of Taramati. At that time, women working in films were seen with a low eye. When Vikram Gokhale’s Pardadi worked in ‘Mohini Bhasmasura’, he also faced a lot of criticism.
India’s first child artist
Durga Bai Kamat played the role of Parvati in ‘Mohini Bhasmasura’ and in this film her daughter Kamla Bai Gokhale played the role of Mohini. At that time Kamla Bai Gokhale was just 13 years old and thus became the first female child artist of Indian cinema. In 1913, two women artists made their debut in the history of Indian cinema. This was a period when women working in performance art were given the title of ‘Baiji’ and this title was also prevalent for prostitutes in those days.
On investigation, it was found that Durga Bai was associated with a traveling theater company before working in films. Acting in the theater at that time was also not considered respectable. Durga Bai belonged to a Brahmin family and there was a lot of uproar over working in films and theater. Panchayats took place and people of the Brahmin community of that time boycotted Kamat. But it is said that he did not lose courage and remained firm on his way.
private life
Born in 1879, Durga studied up to 7th standard. She was the grandmother of famous Marathi actor Chandrakant Gokhale and actor Vikram Gokhale, who worked in ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’. He married Anand Nanoskar, who was a history teacher at JJ School of Arts in Mumbai. It is said that this marriage did not last long and Durga Bai was forced to be alone with one of her daughters. Durga Bau Kamat acted in around 70 films. His last film is said to be ‘Gaheei’ released in 1980. He died in Pune at the age of 117.
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