Durga Khote

Durga Khote
Khote in Prithvi Vallabh (1943)
Born
Vita Lad

(1905-01-14)14 January 1905
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)
Died22 September 1991(1991-09-22) (aged 86)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Occupations
  • Actress
  • film producer
Years active1931–1983
FamilyViju Khote (nephew)
Shubha Khote(niece)
Bhavna Balsavar (grand-niece)
Awards
Honours

Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her time. She remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around 200 films and numerous theatre productions.

In 2000, in a millennium issue, India Today named her among "100 People Who Shaped India", noting: "Durga Khote marks the pioneering phase for women in Indian Cinema",[1] she was one of the first women from respectable families to enter the film industry, thus breaking a social taboo.[2]

She also ranks among the top ten actresses in mother roles in Hindi cinema,[3] most notable among them were as Jodhabai in K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam (1960), which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress; as Kaikeyi in Vijay Bhatt's classic Bharat Milap (1942); her other memorable roles as mother were in Charnon Ki Dasi (1941); Mirza Ghalib (1954); Bobby (1973) and Bidaai (1974), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the lattermost. She has received the highest award in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1983), for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.

  1. ^ Women of Substance Archived 8 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, India Today.
  2. ^ Ten most important women stars in Indian films Archived 21 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Gautam Rajadhyaksha, Rediff.com.
  3. ^ Memorable Moms The Statesman, 4 October 2008.