{{Short description|Indian singer and actress (1916–1992)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Kanan Devi | image = Kanan Devi (1930s).jpg | image_size = 220px | caption = Kanan Devi in the 1930s | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1916|04|22}} | birth_place = Howrah, Bengal Presidency, British India | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1992|07|17|1916|04|22}} | death_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India | occupation = Actress | children = Siddharth Bhattacharya | parents = }}
{{listen|type=music | filename = আমি বনফুল গো.mp3 | title = Kanan Devi singing "Ami Banaphul Go" | description = From the 1942 film ''Shesh Uttar'' }} '''Kanan Devi''' (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014">{{cite book |author1=Rajadhyaksha, Ashish |author2=Willemen, Paul |author3=Professor of Critical Studies Paul Willemen |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA271 |access-date=28 February 2015 |date=10 July 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94318-9 |page=88}}</ref> She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of New Theatres, Kolkata.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014" />
==Biography== Kanan Bala was born on 22 April 1916 in Howrah, West Bengal in a Mahishya family to Ratan Chandra Das and Rajobala Devi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Senapati and Das |first=Uma and Dulal Krishna |title=মাহিষ্য রত্নাবলী-জীবনী শতক |publisher=Tuhina Publications |year=2018 |isbn=9788194434641 |edition=2nd |location=Kolkata |publication-date=2020 |pages=44 to 46 |language=Bengali |trans-title=Mahishya Ratnavali-Biographical Century}}</ref> Although, her father was financially affluent, having not only a well paid job but also a jewellery shop, but lost all his earnings in vices such as gambling and drinking.<ref name=":1" /> After the death of her father, Ratan Chandra Das, young Kanan and Rajobala were simply left to fend for themselves. Her life story is a true tale of rags to riches. Some say she did her schooling (not completed) from Howrah's St. Agnes' Convent School.
A well wisher, Tulsi Banerji, whom she called Kaka babu, introduced Kanan when she was only ten to Madan Theatres/Jyoti Studios, where she was cast in a small role in ''Jaidev'' (1926), followed by Shankaracharya in 1927. She was known as Kanan Bala.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014"/>
Kanan did at least five films with Madan Theatres productions, (1926–1932) ''Rishir Prem'' (1931), ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Vishnu Maya'' (1932) and ''Prahlad'', playing even male leads in the last two.
She then worked with Radha Films from 1933 to 1936, then with New Theatres from 1937 to 1941, with MP Productions 1942 to 1948 and finally set up her own label Shrimati Pictures, 1949 to 1965. She starred in the 1932 film Char Darvesh which was also the debut film for Trilok Kapoor, younger brother of Prithviraj Kapoor
From silent film roles as a child artist, Kanan made the successful transition into talkie films and was noticed with ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Manomoyee Girls School'', ''Khooni Kaun'' and ''Maa'' (1934).
Her films with Jyotish Bannerjee included ''Joydev'' (1926), ''Rishir Prem'' (1931), ''Jorebarat'' (1931), ''Vishnumaya'' (1932), ''Kantahaar'' (1935) and ''Manomoyee Girls School'' (1935). Her films with Prafulla Ghosh were ''Sree Gouranga'' (1933), ''Char Darvesh'' (1933), ''Maa'' (1934) and ''Hari Bhakti''. Others with Radha Film Company were ''Kanthahar'' (1935), ''Krishna Sudama'' (1936), ''Bishabriksha'' (1936) and ''Char Darvesh'' (1933).
New Theatres's P.C. Barua wanted her to play the lead in his ''Devdas'' (1935),<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014"/> but, due to contractual reasons with Radha, she could not act in the film, a factor she regretted all her life.
The films of New Theatres, owned by Biren Sircar, established her as a superhit singer and her films ran to packed audiences.<ref name="Anantharaman2008">{{cite book |author=Ganesh Anantharaman |title=Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmrSLuBwbKkC&pg=PA3 |access-date=28 February 2015 |date=January 2008 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-306340-7 |pages=3–}}</ref> She had to travel under constant protection, given her huge fan following. During her years with New Theatres, Calcutta from 1937, she played the lead in Barua's ''Mukti'' (1937), which was perhaps her finest performance, making her the studio's top star. Apart from Mukti, she did ''Vidyapati'', ''Saathi'' (1938), ''Street Singer'' (1938), ''Sapera'' (1939), ''Jawani Ki Reet'' (1939), ''Parajay'' (1939), ''Abhinetri'' (1940), ''Lagan'' (1941), ''Parichay'' (1941) and ''Jawab'' (1942). She became known as Kanan Devi from this point.<ref name=":1" />
She came in contact with the music maestro Rai Chand Boral, who not only coached and familiarized her in the Hindi accent, but experimented with many classical Western and Indian forms in his music. She received her initial musical training under Alla Rakha. She was employed as a singer at the Megaphone Gramaphone Company, receiving further training under Bhishmadev Chatterjee. She later learnt Rabindra Sangeet under Anadi Dastidar. Kanan remained the top star of New Theatres until she resigned her contract in 1941 and began to freelance in Bengali and Hindi films.
She worked with the biggest names in Indian cinema with K. L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Pramathesh Ch Barua (P.C. Barua, maker of film Devdas), Pahari Sanyal, Chabi Biswas, Trilok Kapoor and Ashok Kumar.
M.P. Productions's ''Jawaab'' was perhaps her biggest hit. Her song ''Duniya Yeh Duniya, Hai Toofan Mail'' was well received. She repeated the same feat in ''Hospital'' (1943), ''Banphool'' (1945) and ''Rajlakshmi'' (1946). Kanan Devi's last Hindi film was ''Chandrashekhar'' (1948), with Ashok Kumar.
Kanan turned producer with Shrimati Pictures in 1949 and later launched the Sabyasachi Collective with the film ''Ananya'' (1949). Her own productions were mainly based on the stories of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == thumb|The house of Kanan Devi in Kolkata Kanan married Ashok Maitra in December, 1940. He was the son of the staunch Brahmo Samaj educationist Heramba Chandra Maitra. Despite their best intentions, the marriage could not withstand the severe condemnation by the then conservative society. Even the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who sent a token gift to the married couple received scathing criticism for blessing the couple. The main issue was that Kanan was not expected to be working in films after her marriage. She filed for divorce in 1945. Despite the pain of the divorce, Kanan expressed her immense gratitude towards her first husband for giving her social recognition through marriage for the first time in her life. To Kanan's credit, she maintained excellent relations with Rani Mahanalobis, sister to Ashok Maitra and her husband, the famous social scientist P C Mahalanobis and with Kusumkumari Devi, Ashok Maitra's mother, even after the marriage was severed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sengupta |first=Mekhala |date=2017-04-22 |title=Then and now: How a movie star dealt with a bad marriage and prying eyes |url=https://scroll.in/reel/835319/then-and-now-how-a-40s-movie-star-dealt-with-a-bad-marriage-and-prying-eyes |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref>
Kanan married Haridas Bhattacharjee around 1949. Haridas Bhattacharjee was then ADC to the Governor of Bengal. He eventually left the naval service to join Kanan in her filmmaking venture and became a competent director. While raising their son Siddharth in Calcutta, she also formed and worked as the president of Mahila Shilpi Mahal, an organization to help senior female artists and other charitable and community causes, including those for the betterment of Bengali cinema.
Kanan Devi lived in number 13 Kabir Road near Rabindra Sarobar for sometime.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kanan Devi |url=https://www.bengalfilmarchive.com/iconic-address-details.php?i=MTkx |website=Bengal Film Archive |access-date=2 February 2026}}</ref>
Kanan Devi, as the first lady of the Bengali screen, received many honours for her contribution to Indian cinema. An honorary degree, a D. Litt, was awarded to her from Vishwabharati, the Padma Shree in 1968 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1976.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2014-05-24 |title=Obituary: Kanan Devi - People - News - The Independent |website=Independent.co.uk |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-kanan-devi-1534655.html |access-date=2024-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524004341/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-kanan-devi-1534655.html |archive-date=24 May 2014 }}</ref>
== Death == She died on 17 July 1992 in Bellevue Clinic, Calcutta when she was around seventy-six years of age.
==Honours and accolades== thumb|upright=1.1|Devi on a 2011 stamp of India * 1942: BFJA Award – Best Actress Award for Parichaya * 1943: BFJA Award – Best Actress Award for ''Shesh Uttar'' * Padma Shri Award – 1968 * Dadasaheb Phalke Award – 1976<ref name=":0" />
A postage stamp, bearing Kanan's likeness, was released to honour her by India's Ministry of State for Communication and Information Technology in February 2011.
==Filmography== ===Actor=== {| class="wikitable sortable" border="0" |- ! '''Year''' ! '''Film Name''' ! '''Director''' ! '''Remarks''' |- | 1926||''Joydev'' ||Jyotish Bannerji || |- | 1927|| ''Shankaracharya''|| D.G. Kali Prasad|| |- | 1931||''Rishir Prem'' || rowspan="3" |Jyotish Bannerji || |- | 1931||Jore Barat || Short |- | 1932||Bishnumaya|| |- | 1932||''Prahlad'' ||Priyanath Ganguly || |- | 1932||Vishnu Maya ||Jyotish Bannerji || |- | 1933||''Sree Gouranga'' || rowspan="4" |Prafulla Ghosh || |- | 1933||''Char Darvesh'' || |- | 1934||''Maa'' || |- | 1934||''Hari Bhakti'' || |- | 1935||''Kanthahaar'' || rowspan="2" |Jyotish Bannerji || |- | 1935||Manmoyee Girls School || |- | 1935||''Basabdatta'' ||Satish Dasgupta || |- | 1936||''Bishabriksha'' || rowspan="2" |Phani Burma || |- | 1936||''Krishna Sudama'' || |- | 1936||''Khooni Kaun'' ||G. R. Sethi || |- | 1936||''Maa'' ||Prafulla Ghosh || |- | rowspan="3" | 1937||''Vidyapati'' ||Debaki Bose || |- |''Mukti'' ||Pramathesh Chandra Barua || |- |''Vidyapati'' ||Debaki Bose ||Filmed simultaneously in Hindi and Bengali. the latter version titled ''Bidyapati'' |- | rowspan="2" | 1938||''Sathi''|| rowspan="2" |Phani Majumdar|| |- |''Street Singer''|| |- | 1939||''Sapera''|| rowspan="2" |Debaki Bose|| |- | 1939||''Sapurey''|| |- | 1940||''Jawani-Ki-Reet''|| rowspan="2" |Hemchandra Chunder || |- | 1940||''Parajay''|| |- | 1940||''Haar Jeet''|| rowspan="2" |Amar Mullick || |- | 1940||''Abhinetri''|| |- | 1941||''Parichay''|| rowspan="2" |Nitin Bose|| |- | 1941||''Lagan''|| |- | 1942||''Shesh Uttar''|| rowspan="2" |Pramathesh Chandra Barua|| |- | 1942||''Jawab''|| |- | 1943||''Jogajog''|| rowspan="2" |Sushil Majumdar || |- | 1943||''Jogajog''|| |- | 1944||''Bideshini''|| rowspan="2" |Premendra Mitra || |- | 1945||''Path Bendhe Dilo''|| |- | 1945||''Banphool''||Niren Lahiri || |- | 1945||''Raj Lakshmi''||Premendra Mitra|| |- | 1946||''Tumi Aar Aami''||Apurba Kumar Mitra || |- | 1946||''Krishna Leela''||Debaki Bose|| |- | 1946||''Arabian Nights''||Niren Lahiri|| |- | 1947||''Chandrasekhar''||Debaki Bose|| |- | 1947||''Faisla''||Apurba Kumar Mitra || |- | 1948||''Bankalekha''||Chitta Bose || |- | 1948||''Anirban''||Soumyen Mukherjee || |- | 1949||''Ananya''||Sabyasachi || |- | 1949||''Anuradha''||Pranab Roy || |- | 1950||''Mej Didi''||Ajay Kar || |- | 1952||''Darpachurna''|| || |- | 1954||''Nababidhan''|| rowspan="7" |Haridas Bhattacharya || |- | 1955||''Debatra''|| |- |1956 |''Asha'' | |- | 1957 |Andhare Alo|| |- | 1958
|''Rajlakshmi O Srikanta''|| |- |1959 |''Indranath Srikanta O Annadadid'' | |- |1965 |''Abhay O Srikantai'' |}
===Playback singer=== {{div col|colwidth=20em}} # Asha (1956) (playback singer) # Debatra (1955) (playback singer) # Naba Bidhan (1954) (playback singer) # Darpachurna (1952) (playback singer) # Mejdidi (1950) (playback singer) # Ananya (1949) (playback singer) # Anirban (1948) (playback singer) # Bankalekha (1948) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Crooked Writing # Faisla (1947) (playback singer) # Chandrashekhar (1947) (playback singer) # Arabian Nights (1946) (playback singer) # Krishna Leela (1946) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Radha Krishna Prem ... a.k.a. The Story of Lord Krishna # Tum Aur Main (1946) (playback singer) # Tumi Aar Aami (1946) (playback singer) # Ban Phool (1945) (playback singer) # Path Bendhe Dilo (1945) (playback singer) # Rajlaxmi (1945) (playback singer) # Bideshini (1944) (playback singer) # Jogajog (1943) (playback singer) # Jawab (1942) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Shesh Uttar (India: Bengali title) ... a.k.a. The Last Reply # Lagan (1941) (playback singer) # Parichay (1941) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Acquaintance ... a.k.a. Marriage # Abhinetri (1940) (playback singer) # Haar Jeet (1940) (playback singer) # Jawani Ki Reet (1939) (playback singer) # Parajay (1939) (playback singer) # Sapera (1939) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Snake-Charmer (India: English title) # Sapurey (1939) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Snake-Charmer (India: English title) # Bidyapati (1937) (playback singer) # Mukti (1937/I) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Freedom ... a.k.a. The Liberation of the Soul # Mukti (1937/II) (playback singer) # Vidyapati (1937) (playback singer) # Bishabriksha (1936) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. The Poison Tree # Krishna Sudama (1936) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Krishna and Sudama # Manmoyee Girls School (1935) (playback singer) # Maa (1934) (playback singer) # Char Darvesh (1933) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Merchant of Arabia (India: English title) # Vishnumaya (1932) (playback singer) ... a.k.a. Doings of Lord Vishnu # Jore Barat (1931) (playback singer) # Prahlad (1931/I) (playback singer)
===Producer=== # Abhaya O Srikanta (1965) (producer) # Indranath Srikanta O Annadadidi (1959) (producer) # Rajlakshmi O Srikanta (1958) (producer) # Andhare Alo (1957) (producer) # Asha (1956) (producer) # Debatra (1955) (producer) # Naba Bidhan (1954) (producer) # Darpachurna (1952) (producer) # Mejdidi (1950) (producer) # Ananya (1949) (producer) # Bamuner Meye (1949) (producer) {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Ranita |editor-last=Lawrence |editor-first=Michael |title=Indian Film Stars: New Critical Perspectives |year=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-84457-855-9 |pages=31–42 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UXnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |chapter=Confessions of Indian cinema’s first woman superstar: Kanan Devi’s memoirs, film history and digital archives}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Kanan Devi}} * {{Official website|http://hindi-films-songs.com/kanandevi/}} * {{IMDb name|0222454}}
{{Dadasaheb Phalke Award}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Kanan}} Category:1916 births Category:People from Howrah Category:1992 deaths Category:Actresses in Bengali cinema Category:Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema Category:Indian women playback singers Category:Indian film actresses Category:20th-century Indian actresses Category:Singers from West Bengal Category:Actresses from West Bengal Category:20th-century Indian women singers Category:Women musicians from West Bengal