Kanan Devi: A real life Cinderella story

Born Kananbala in 1916, her father, Ratan Chandra Das passed away when she was only five. Her mother, Rajbala Devi raised her amidst severe hardship. For a meager remuneration Kanan made her debut as a child actress with the movie Joydev (1926).

Thus started the journey of a remarkable woman whose life was no less than a fairy tale. From 'Kanan Bala' to 'Kanan Devi', the journey of this legendary actress and singer was fascinating.

Kanan got her first break in films as a lead actress, with Jorbaraat (1931) directed by Jyotish Banerjee. She was only 15 then. PC Barua was unable to enlist her for the role of Paro in Devdas (1935) but she played the lead in his Mukti (1937).

An untrained singer when she stepped into the film-zone, she trained briefly under Ustad Allah Rakha in Lucknow. She was employed as a singer at Megaphone Gramophone Company, receiving further training from Bhishmadev Chatterjee. She later mastered Rabindra Sangeet with Anadi Dastidar.

Mukti made Kanan a star and led to a fruitful association with New Theatres.

The success of Bidyapati (Bangla)/Vidyapati (Hindi) (1937) in which she demonstrated perhaps her finest performance, propelled her to the crest of stardom.

To quote critic Krishna Chaitanya, "Kanan Devi has the marvellous gift of smoothly carrying over to the melodic elaboration, the intimate expressiveness of speech -- occasional aspiration of vowels, accented speech rhythms and sensitive manipulation of volume."

Kanan Devi remained the top star of New Theatres till she resigned in 1941 and began to freelance in Hindi and Bangla films. Jawab the following year saw perhaps her biggest ever hit song Toofan Mail, which is hummed by many to this date.

Even though she was a singing sensation, music and songs were secondary to the narration of a story. In fact powerful narrative appeal made up for most of the technical and other deficiencies Bangla cinema may have suffered from at the time and was a key to the success of the New Theatres Films.

Kanan Devi turned producer with Shrimati Pics in 1949 and launched the film Ananya. Her own productions were mainly based on Sarat Chandra stories and were directed by her husband Haridas Bhattacharya.

Kanan Devi's last film was Indranath Srikanta O Annadadidi (1959). She wrote an autobiography Shobarey Ami Nomi (1973) and in 1977, Kanan Devi, the then considered 'first lady of Bangla Films' was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award for her contribution to Indian cinema. She also worked as President of the Mahila Shilpi Mahal, an organisation that helps aged and needy female artistes of yesteryears.

The legendary diva passed away on July 17, 1992 but her legacy remain alive in the heart of millions.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent