By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On Her Death Anniversary
As we all know classical music or dancing is only popular in the middle class in general and elite or upper crust in particular. People belonging to lower sections of the society usually do not cater to classical shows or events. Resultantly, classical music or classical dancing both have become the choicest of the select few in our country.
The classical danseuse under reference, Sitara Devi, is credited with being the second wife of legendary director K. Asif of Mughal-e-Azam fame. Her parents Sukhdev Maharaj & Matsya Kumari helped her pursue classical dancing . Sitara Devi learnt the intricacies of Kathak and other forms of classical dancing from the father of Birju Maharaj. When she matured & gained worldwide recognition she passed on her talent to actresses like Madhubala, Mala Sinha and Rekha to further their career in films.
Those days dancing in films or on stage was restricted to either nautch girls or men who performed in women’s garb on stage or films. Women from decent families were neither allowed to work in films nor perform on stage.
In this backdrop Sitara Devi showed her nerves and with unflinching determination chose Kathak dancing as her hobby nay profession and graduated into a dancer of international stature. She was recipient of many awards and accolades to her credit and even performed at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London (1967) and Carnegie Hall, New York (1976). Bestowed with the title Nritya Samragini by Rabindranath Tagore who saw her perform on stage.
She also worked in few movies including Devdas (1936) Watan, Bagbaan, Holi (1938) Dhiraj (1942), Najma(1943), Hulchul (1951) & Mother India (1957). One of her earlier films was Mehboob Khan’s “Roti” (1942) featuring Chandra Mohan & young Shaikh Mukhtar.
