Seeta Devi
Encyclopedia
Career
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Himanshu Rai
Himanshu Roy , one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, is best known as the founder of the Bombay Talkies in 1934. He was associated with a number of movies, including Goddess , The Light of Asia , Siraj , A Throw of Dice , and Karma .He was married to actress Devika Rani.-Bombay Talkies:He was...
cast Smith, an Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
, in Prem Sanyas
Prem Sanyas
Prem Sanyas was 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai. It was film adapted from the book, The Light of Asia in verse, by Edwin Arnold, based on the life of Prince Gautama Buddha, who after enlightenment became the Buddha, the learned one.-Production:The film was an...
, the movie which is better known by its English title: The Light of Asia. This was her debut film as Seeta Devi, and it made her a star immediately. Later she acted under the banner of Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre
Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or in short, Madan Theatres was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji Madan, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema....
s as well.
Three of her most successful films were: The Light of Asia, Shiraz, and Prapancha Pash. All three of these films were made through the collaboration of German film director Franz Osten
Franz Osten
Franz Osten was a German filmmaker who along with Niranjan Pal was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Pal on a number of India's earliest blockbuster films like Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya.-Early life:He was born as Franz Ostermayr in Munich on 23 December 1876...
and Indian actor-producer Himanshu Rai along with Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n company Emelka. This unique trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
were connected to three different religions and based on three different stories of Indian history/mythology: The Light of Asia was based on the life of Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, Shiraz was based on construction of the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
and Prapancha Pash, better known by its English title A Throw of Dice, was based on a story from the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. Seeta Devi was the leading actress in all these three films, though the role in Shiraz was that of 'the other woman'.
Three of her other successful films, Durgesh Nandini, Kapal Kundala and Krishnakanter Will were based on popular novels of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
Many believed that Renee Smith and her sister Percy Smith alternatively appeared as 'Seeta Devi'.
Filmography
- Prem SanyasPrem SanyasPrem Sanyas was 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai. It was film adapted from the book, The Light of Asia in verse, by Edwin Arnold, based on the life of Prince Gautama Buddha, who after enlightenment became the Buddha, the learned one.-Production:The film was an...
(1925) (German title: Leuchte Asiens, Die, English Title: The Light of Asia) - Krishnakanter Will (1926)
- Durgesh Nandini (1927)
- Shiraz (1928) (German title: Grabmal einer großen Liebe, Das)
- Sarala (1928) (Hindi title: Swarnalata)
- Loves of a Moghul Prince (1928) (Urdu title: Anarkali; also 'Rajmahal Ni Ramani')
- Bhrantri (1928) (English title: Mistake)
- Kapal Kundala (1929)
- Prapancha Pash (1929) (English title: A Throw of Dice, German title: Schicksalswürfel)
- Bharat Ramani (1930) (English title: The Enchantress of India)
- Kal Parinaya (1930) (English title: Fatal Marriage)