Cinema’s First Lady. And her stalker

Kishwar Desai’s biography on Devika Rani is a curious look at the personal and professional side to India’s first ‘international superstar’

Somewhere in the early part of Kishwar Desai’s new biography, The Longest Kiss (Westland Books), on the famed actress Devika Rani, we learn about a stalker who is upset about Rani’s marriage to Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich.

Kishwar Desai

In his letters to her, he threatens to burn Bombay Talkies mansions, which she co-founded with her former late husband Himansu Rai, into ashes if she doesn’t divorce the “Russian roast”. The stalker wants her to marry, but with “any Indian”. Devika seems amused by the idea of a stalker, but she is very much in love with Svetoslav, the soulmate she found after a long, tumultuous and abusive marriage. This sets the tone for the book, which captures the life and times of the prodigiously talented Rani, who was “India’s first international superstar” in the early 20th century. 

Rani’s story is important for many reasons, not just because of her contribution to Indian cinema and for providing a launch-pad to some of the best known screen talents (Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Madhubala to name a few), but also because of how she negotiated a largely male-dominated system to become a stellar force. Be it her personal life or professional, Rani rarely ever made compromises, and if she did, she took it in her stride. Desai’s book is a first-of-its kind, wholesome peek into a woman, who meant serious business.

What: The Longest Kiss
Where: Amazon.in
Cost: Rs 599

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