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One wonders where the likes of Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif would be without the immense contribution of Durga Khote in legitimizing cinema as a career option for Indian women.

Durga Khote enetered Indian  Cinema in a period when Cinema actresses were frowned upon by the genteel, and acting in films had the same general respectability of exotic or baijis singing and dancing in alcohol-drenched parites.

As was the predoinating social convention till late 19th and early 20th centuries, Durga Khote was married when she was a little girl. Her husband died when she was 26 with two children. Cinema seemed to give her an opportunity and she went into films.

Durga Khote was from a Brahmin family, an upper-caste Brahmin. By choosing to go into Cinema, she had the tremendous effect of initiating social acceptance of Cinema as a respectable career for all women.

Durga Khote's life is also a study of a woman in a male dominated society and business-oriented art form. She was very intelligent, and had a tremendous appetite for learning. She earned l;iberal amounts of fame, respect and acclaim in her profession. Her personal life was not all roses, unfortunately, and she had to go through some painful times in her relationships.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Durga Khote (January 14, 1905− September 22, 1991) participated in over 200 Hindi and Marathi movies and numerous theater prodictions. She was acknowledged as one of the top 100 people who shaped India in India Today's millenium edition.

Durga Khote was honored with a Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema in 1983.

I, Durga Khote - An Autobiography

Durga Khote writes about the two different strands in her life - a successful career in movies and a troubled personal life. The Marathi original has been translated into English by Shanta Gokhale and Gayatri Chatterjee.

I, Durga Khote: An Autobiography is available online here >