Sabita Devi

Sabita Devi
Born
Iris Maude Gasper

1914
Died1998 (aged 83–84)
Silverwood Nursing Home, Beeston, Nottingham, England
Resting placeWilford crematorium West Bridgford, Nottingham
OccupationActress
Years active1930–1947
SpouseDavid Trefor Lewis
Children1 stepchild

Sabita Devi (1914–1965) was a Hindi film actress in Indian cinema. She is stated to be one of the "prominent" leading ladies of the "pioneering era" of Indian cinema along with Mehtab, Bibbo, Durga Khote, Gohar, Devika Rani and Seeta Devi.[1] A Jewish by birth,[2] she changed her name to find acceptability in Hindi cinema like the other Anglo-Indian and Jewish actresses of her time, Sulochana (Ruby Myers), Seeta Devi (Renee Smith), Madhuri (Beryl Claessen), and Manorama (Erin Daniels).[3][4] After initially working with British Dominion Films Ltd., Calcutta, she shifted to Bombay and performed mainly in films produced by Sagar Movietone with her co-star in most films being Motilal. Some of the popular films with Motilal were Dr. Madhurika (1935) and Kulvadhu (1937) directed by Sarvottam Badami.[5] Their first film together was Shaher Ka Jadoo (1934), which was also Motilal's debut film,[6] and then Lagna Bandhan (1936) both directed by Kaliprasad Ghosh.[7] She acted in Silver King (1935) with Motilal. It was an action film directed by C. M. Luhar, which became a "huge success".[citation needed]

Counted as one of the top three female artistes of her time, in 1938 she was the third highest paid actress after Sulochana (Ruby Myers) and Gohar, drawing a salary of Rs. 3000 per month. "Classic writers like K. M. Munshi and Ramanlal Vasantlal" were commissioned to write stories for her films, with elaborate sets and "special rehearsals" provided along with an overwhelming "pre-release publicity".[2] One of the top directors of the time she worked with doing social genre films was Sarvottam Badami.[8] She formed her own production company, Sudama Pictures, in collaboration with Sarvottam Badami along with the assistance of Ranjit Studios.[9] From 1935–1943 Sabita acted in fifteen films, all directed by Badami. Some of the comedy films she acted in like Aap Ki Marzi (1939) and Ladies Only (1939), turned out to be big box office successes.[10]

  1. ^ Ashok Raj (1 November 2009). Hero Vol.1. Hay House, Inc. pp. 37–. ISBN 978-93-81398-02-9. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b Patel, Baburao (December 1937). "India Has No Stars". Filmindia. 3 (8): 5. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  3. ^ Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd (April 1982). "Religion Has Shaped Indian Films". ThirdWay. 4. Vol. 5. Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. pp. 6–. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. ^ The Modern Girl around the World Research Group; Alys Eve Weinbaum; Lynn M. Thomas; Priti Ramamurthy; Uta G. Poiger; Madeleine Yue Dong; Tani E. Barlow (3 December 2008). The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization. Duke University Press. pp. 162–. ISBN 978-0-8223-8919-4. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  5. ^ Subodh Kapoor (2002). The Indian Encyclopaedia: Meya-National Congress. Cosmo Publications. pp. 4933–. ISBN 978-81-7755-273-7. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  6. ^ Gulazāra; Saibal Chatterjee (2003). "Motilal". Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. pp. 615–. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  7. ^ Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1994–. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  8. ^ Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. pp. 267–. ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  9. ^ Patel, Baburao (March 1939). "Editor's Mail". Filmindia. 5 (3): 15. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  10. ^ Sanjit Narwekar (12 December 2012). "5-The Puppet Masters". Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy. Rupa Publications. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-81-291-2625-2. Retrieved 28 August 2015.