- Sitara Devi Was An Indian Dancer Of The Classical Kathak Style Of Dance, A Singer And An Actress.
- At An Early Age, Devi Met Rabindranath Tagore, Who Encouraged Her To Revive Lost Indian Performance Arts Such As Kathak.
Birth Details –
- Place – Kolkata
- Date Of Birth – 8 November 1920
- Marital Status – Married
- Nationality – Indian
Family –
- Mother – Matsya Kumari
- Father – Sukhdev Maharaj
- Brothers – Choubey And Pandey
- Sister – Alaknanda
- Husband – Pratap Barot
- Son – Ranjit Barot
- Teacher – Sukhdev Maharaj
Early Life –
- Sitara Devi Was Born In Kolkata On 8 November 1920, Which Coincided With The Festival Of Dhanteras That Year, The Eve Of The Indian Festival Of Diwali.
- She Was Named Dhanalakshmi In Honor Of The Goddess Of Fortune Who Is Worshiped On That Day.
- Devi’s Paternal Family Was Of Brahmin Heritage And Was From The City Of Varanasi, But Had Settled In Kolkata For Many Years.
- Her Father, Sukhdev Maharaj, Was A Brahmin Gentleman And Vaishnava Scholar Of Sanskrit, And Earned His Livelihood By Teaching And Performing The Kathak Dance Form.
- Devi’s Mother Matsya Kumari And Her Family Were From The Community Of Performing Artists.
- She Learned Dance From Her Father, Who Established A School To Teach Dance To Children, Including His Daughters And Sons.
- As Was The Custom Of The Time, Devi Was To Be Married When She Was A Young Girl Of Eight, And The Family Of Her Child Groom Wanted To Formalize The Marriage.
- However, She Resisted, And Wanted To Stay In A School. On Her Insistence, The Marriage Did Not Take Place And She Was Admitted To The Kamchhagarh High School.
- While In School, A Dance Drama Based On The Mythological Story Of Savitri And Satyavan Was Presented In A Cultural Program Organized By The School Students.
- The Performance Fixed The Role For Her And She Was Also Tasked With Giving Dance Lessons To Her Co-Stars In The Sequence.
- Dhanno Was Rechristened As Sitara, And Was Assigned The Task Of Taking Care Of Her Elder Sister Tara And Teaching Her Dance.
Personal Life –
- Sitara Devi Married Four Times. Her First Husband Was Mr. Desai; Very Little Is Known About Him.
- Her Second Husband Was Actor Nazir Ahmed Khan. The Age Difference Between Them Was Sixteen Years, And Nazir’s First Wife Sikandra Begum Was Always Present.
- There Was Also A Deep Difference Of Religion, Khan Being A Muslim And Sitara Devi Being A Hindu.
- To Enter Into This Marriage, Sitara Converted To Islam. The Marriage Was Both Short-Lived And Childless, And They Were Soon Divorced.
- Sitara Devi’s Third Marriage Was To Film Producer K Asif, Who Was Not Only Her Second Husband’s Cousin, But Also Sikandra Begum’s Brother.
- This Marriage Also Did Not Last Very Long, And It Was Childless.
- After Her Third Divorce, Sitara Married Pratap Barot, A Hindu Gentleman Of Gujarati Heritage. The Couple Had A Son, Ranjit Barot, Who Was Born In 1950.
Career –
- By The Time She Was Eleven, Her Family Moved To Bombay.
- Soon After Arriving In Bombay, Devi Gave A Kathak Performance At Atiya Begum Palace Before A Select Audience, Which Included Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu And Sir Cowasji Jehangir.
- His Debut Took Place At Jehangir Hall (Mumbai), Which Was Then The Center Of The Cultural Life Of The Metro.
- When She Was Twelve Years Old, Devi Was Recruited By Niranjan Sharma, A Film Producer And A Dance Director, And
- They –
- 1940 – Usha Haran
- 1951 – Nagina
- 1938 – Country
- In 1957 Mother India, He Performed Holi Dance As A Boy, And This Was His Last Dance In Any Film.
- She Stopped Dancing In Films, As They Were Adversely Affecting Her Studies In The Classical Dance Form, Kathak.
Awards –
- 1969 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Other Information –
- Date Of Death – 25 November 2014
- Place – Mumbai, India
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Question Related to Sitara Devi
Where and when was Sitara Devi born?
Sitara Devi was born on 8 November 1920 in Kolkata.
What was the name of Sitara Devi’s father?
Sitara Devi’s father’s name was Sukhdev Maharaj.
Who was the teacher of Sitara Devi?
Sitara Devi’s teacher was Sukhdev Maharaj.
Who is Sitara Devi’s son?
The name of Sitara Devi’s son was Ranjit Barot.
What was the name of Sitara Devi’s husband?
Sitara Devi’s husband’s name was Pratap Barot, Mr. Desai, Nazir Ahmad Khan, K. Asif.
Which awards did Sitara Devi get?
Sitara Devi was honored with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
When and where did Sitara Devi die?
Sitara Devi died on 25 November 2014 in Mumbai, India