Durgabai Kamat

{{Infobox person

| name = Durgabai Kamat

| image =

| caption =

| nationality = Indian

| birth_name = Durgabai Kamat

| birth_date = 1879

| birth_place = Bomby, Bombay Presidency, Maharashtra, British Raj, British India

| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|5|17|1879|df=yes}}

| death_place = Pune, Maharashtra, India

| alias = The First Female Actress in Indian Cinema{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbctv18.com/entertainment/international-womens-day-durgabai-kamat-the-forgotten-women-of-indian-cinema-16101461.htm|title=Who was the first-ever Bollywood heroine — and more|website=CNBC TV18|date=7 March 2023}}

| occupation = {{Hlist | Actress | singer | dancer | painter}}

| years_active = 1913–1950

| spouse = {{marriage|Anand Nanoskar|1899|1903|reason=div.}}

| children = Kamlabai Gokhale (daughter)

| relatives = {{plainlist|

Chandrakant Gokhale (grandson)
Vikram Gokhale (great-grandson)

}}

Durgabai Kamat (1879 – 17 May 1997) was an Indian actress in Marathi films, who was the first actress in Indian cinema. She is known as The First Female Actress in Indian Cinema when she acted in film Mohini Bhasmasur in 1913 at that time when it was not considered an appropriate profession for girls from respectable families.{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/movies/from-housewife-to-first-actress-in-indian-cinema-durgabai-kamats-inspiring-journey-7253311.html|title=From Housewife To First Actress In Indian Cinema, Durgabai Kamat's Inspiring Journey|website=News 18|date=10 March 2023}}

Early life

Kamat was born in a Marathi Brahmin family.{{Cite web|last=Varma|first=Shraddha|date=7 March 2018|url=https://www.idiva.com/womens-month/the-heroes/durgabai-kamat-the-first-female-actor-in-indian-cinema/17074892|title=Durgabai Kamat: The First Female Actor In Indian Cinema|website=Idiva Dot Com|language=en|access-date=18 May 2022}} She was interested in arts from a very young age and her father was a renowned musician. Durga learnt to play musical instruments such as the veena, tabla and sitar. She could sing, dance and paint like most upper-caste families of that time, was very conservative. She studied until 7th standard and later married a history teacher but it didn't last long. She made her acting debut onstage. She made history as the first female actor, while her daughter Kamlabai became the first child actress of Indian cinema. Her rather bold decision to raise her child single-handedly and to pursue a career in acting saw her being ostracised by her Brahmin community.{{cite web|url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/durgabai-kamat-indian-silver-screens-first-leading-lady-030025541.html|title=Durgabai Kamat: Indian Silver Screen's First Leading Lady|website=Yahoo News Canada|date=9 December 2020}}

Durgabai Kamat first joined a travelling theatre company called Chittakarshak Natak Company and lived a nomad's life, with her daughter Kamlabai in tow. As they were on the go all the time, Durgabai also took it upon herself to home school her daughter. Around this time, she took up Dadasaheb Phalke on his offer to star in his next feature film, along with her daughter. Mohini Bhasmasur was a mythological black and white feature film, starring Kamlabai as Mohini and Durgabai as her mother, Parvati.{{cite book|first1=Bhawana|last1=Sommya|first2=Jigna|last2=Kothari|first3=Supriya|last3=Madangarli|title=Mother Maiden Mistress : Women in Hindi Cinema,1950–2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dtec0Ykfo1sC&pg=PT4|date=17 April 2012|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-93-5029-485-7|page=4}}

Career

In the early 1900s, acting in film or theatre was a taboo for women, so much so Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, had to use male actors for female roles in first Indian film, Raja Harishchandra.{{sfn|Watve|2012|p=54}} However, with its success, female actresses were encouraged. Thus, he introduced Kamat in his 1913 second movie Mohini Bhasmasur as a leading lady Parvati, while her daughter played the role of Mohini, thus becoming the first female child actress of Indian cinema. After Kamat, other actresses started working in cinema.{{cite news |title=Indian cinema@100: First women on screen: Durgabai Kamat and her daughter Kamlabai Ghokhle |author=Riya Chakravarty |url=http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/indian-cinema-100-40-firsts-in-indian-cinema-362362 |publisher=NDTV |date=3 May 2013 |accessdate=9 May 2013 |archive-date=4 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504160827/http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/indian-cinema-100-40-firsts-in-indian-cinema-362362 |url-status=dead }} In 1927, she acted in the film Babanchi Bayko directed by Narayanrao D. Sarpotdar, starring K. Ghaneker, Koregonkar Durgabai, Varne Pandurang and Gondhaleker. With the coming of sound in movies then in 1931 she acted in Gulami Janjir a social film, directed by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh and co-starred Takle, Rafiq Ghaznavi, Hyder Shah and Manohar Ghatwani.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Personal life

Durgabai married Anand Nanoskar, a history teacher in Bombay but their marriage did not last long. Despite the societal taboos, they parted ways in 1903. After their separation, Durgabai went on to raise her then three-year-old daughter Kamlabai on her own. She was the maternal grandmother of veteran Marathi actor Chandrakant Gokhale,[https://archive.today/20130103075140/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-06-21/pune/27752775_1_chandrakant-gokhale-marathi-actor Veteran actor Gokhale dead], The Times of India, 21 June 2008. and the great-grandmother of actors Vikram Gokhale.{{cite news |title=Vikram Gokhale has an illustrious family lineage|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-23/did-you-know-/32605578_1_lineage-artiste-durgabai-kamat |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629123325/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-23/did-you-know-/32605578_1_lineage-artiste-durgabai-kamat |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2013 |date=23 January 2013 |newspaper=The Times of India|accessdate=9 May 2013}}

Death

Kamat died on 17 May 1997, in Pune, Maharashtra, at age 117 or 118.{{Cite web |title=भारतीय सिनेमा की पहली अभिनेत्री: समाज से लड़कर Indian Cinema को नई दिशा देने वाली दुर्गा की कहानी - who was durgabai kamat first actress of indian cinema know details about her on international women's day 2024 |url=https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-who-was-durgabai-kamat-first-actress-of-indian-cinema-know-details-about-her-23667823.html |access-date=14 October 2024 |website=Jagran |language=hi}}

Filmography

=Silent Movies=

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
1913	Mohini Bhasmasur	Parvati	Debut
1927	Babanchi Bayko	Durgabai	Directed by Narayanrao D. Sarpotdar

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1913

Mohini Bhasmasur

Parvati

Debut

1927

Babanchi Bayko

Durgabai

Directed by Narayanrao D. Sarpotdar

=Talkie Movies=

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
1931	Gulami Janjir	Renuka	Starred with Rafiq Ghaznavi

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1931

Gulami Janjir

Renuka

Starred with Rafiq Ghaznavi

References

=Sources=

{{cite book|title=Dadasaheb Phalke, The Father of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTZnAAAAMAAJ|year=2012|orig-year=2004|publisher=National Book Trust|isbn=978-81-237-4319-6|last=Watve|first=Bapu|translator=Virkar, S. A.}}