BOLLYWOOD’S FIRST EMPRESS
Lillete Dubey’s new play, Devika Rani, shows that one of Bollywood’s early heroes was a woman
Actress-theatre director Lillete Dubey says putting up a play is “like giving birth to a baby”. By that analogy, she has nurtured 24 children under her banner Primetime Theatre Co in the past 28 years. Some, like Dance Like a Man, 30 Days in September and The Wedding Album, have matured and travelled far, while Devika Rani: Goddess of the Silver Screen, her latest, is just about seeing its first light. After sharing the first glimpse of the play in Pune last month, Dubey is travelling to Delhi and Mumbai with it this month.
Devika Rani chronicles the pivotal years in the professional life of Rani, a pioneer of Indian cinema. A co-founder of Bombay Talkies, one of India’s first professionally-run studios, she produced films on topics like untouchability and widow remarriage. She acted, sang, vetted scripts, designed sets and costumes. She also gave future stars like Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor and
Dilip Kumar, their break.
For Dubey, Rani is as relevant today as she was eight decades ago. Dubey’s daughter, Ira, plays Rani while Joy Sengupta plays her husband and partner Himanshu Rai. “She struggled in a highly patriarchal world, but didn’t give a damn,” says Dubey. “She’d be quite a woman even now.”
Dubey convinced author Kishwar Desai, who is writing a biography of Rani, to make her debut as a playwright. They focused on the period when Rani met her husband Rai, 15 years her senior, in London to when she bade farewell to cinema at the age of 37. “Most actresses today at some point want to put on the grease paint and get into showbiz again. They can’t quite let go,” says Dubey. “Even a Madhuri Dixit goes and comes back.”
With Devika Rani, Dubey continues to tackle strong female characters in her productions. Her Gauhar was about the legendary thumri singer Gauhar Jaan, while Salaam, Noni Appa—adapted from Twinkle Khanna’s short story of the same name—was about a 60-something widow who finds love again. “The common factor between Gauhar, Devika and me is junoon,” says Dubey. “I have a crazy passion for theatre. When I go on stage, I get such an adrenaline rush.” That’s enough to keep Dubey going. ■
Lilette Dubey tackles yet another strong female character in her latest play on one of Bollywood’s strongest ladies