Reader\'s Digest India - 09.2019

Culturescape

IN 1944, DEVIKA RANI,

the ‘First Lady of

Indian Cinema’, was

visiting the famous

painter and mystic,

Nicholas Roerich’s

son, Svetoslav, seeking

his help for a set de-

sign. This led to her

becoming the roman-

ticist’s muse and wife,

and leaving Bombay

cinema for good.

Called the ‘Indian

Greta Garbo’, she

was the leading lady

in iconic films such as

Achhut Kanya (1936),

Janmabhoomi (1936)

and Savitri (1937). Rani

was also the first actress

to have featured in a

four-minute-long kiss-

ing scene in a Bolly-

wood film with her first

husband Himanshu Rai.

Holding flowers in

her hands and dressed

in bright colours, Rani

was a frequent subject

of the younger Roe-

rich’s paintings. “She

is represented here like

nature transformed

into ‘spirit’ (angel)”,

says Dr B. L. Shankar,

president, Karnataka

Chitrakala Parishath,

about this portrait.

Having settled in

Bengaluru, the couple

remained a presence at

the city’s cultural scene,

until they passed away

in the early ’90s.

— BY VANYA LOCHAN

Untitled

by Svetoslav

Nikolaevich Roerich

Oil on Canvas,

21½ x 16 inches,

1946

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