Durga Khote is popularly remembered as one of the best on-screen mothers in Indian cinema, particularly in Hindi and Marathi cinema. Today, on her death anniversary, we pay tribute to the legendary actress who appeared in over 200 films during a career spanning five decades.
She was born into a Goan Konkani well-to-do family. Later, her family shifted to Mumbai. She did her schooling from St. Cathedral High School and graduated from St. Xavier’s College. She was married to Vishwanath Khote, a Mechanical Engineer.
However, her husband’s untimely death, when she was merely 26, put her and her sons in a difficult spot financially. She decided to work to support her family. Durga Khote entered the film industry around the early 1930s. It was the time when the “talkie phase” of Indian films had just started.
Her entry into film as an actress was seen as an unconventional choice, as the roles for women were mostly played by men. Well-educated women from good families rarely acted in films at that time. It was considered indecent.
She dared to venture in films(Hindi and Marathi) and opened the door for others to enter the industry without inhibition.
Initially, she was cast in a small role in the film, Farebi Jal(1931).
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By 1932, she was associated with Prabhat Film Company. Her films Maya Machindra(1932) and Ayodhayache Raja (1932) were directed by V Shantaram. Ayodhyache Raja was released in both Hindi and Marathi. She played the lead heroine in both versions as Rani Taramati, wife of Raja Harishchandra and mother of Rohit Kumar.
Rani Taramti’s devotion to her family despite the tests, trials, and tribulations by destiny won the hearts of the audience and established her as a heroine. Ayodhyache Raja was the first Marathi “talkie” film.
In fact, Amar Jyoti (1936) directed by Shantaram cast her as a powerful protagonist. She played the role of Saudamini in the film. Her role was akin to her real-life choices, rather unconventional. It was different from how mothers were supposed to be in the Indian society of the 1930s: gentle, loving, and self-sacrificing. Saudamini was none of that. She was a mother wronged, and she vowed vengeance on the lives of the people who wronged her. Her pain made her into a pirate to wreak havoc on the lives of the ruling Queen and her minister, who separated her from her son. She eventually kidnaps the queen’s daughter to give her a taste of her own medicine.
Amar Jyoti was the first Indian film that was sent to the Venice Film Festival.
Her films in the early 1940s also brought massive success. Films like Payachi Dasi (Marathi) and Charnon ki Dasi (Hindi) in 1941, and Bharat Milap (1942) were superhits. In fact, in her role as the cunning and conniving Kaikeyi in Bharat Milap in 1942, she stood out, and even today, people remember her as the first woman to play the role of the wicked queen of Ayodhya, from the Ramayan.
Such bold and unprecedented roles in the pre-independence era were way ahead of their times. They filled the black and white films with vibrance akin to colors and established her as a heroine.
She credited her success to early association with V. Shantaram, who gave her a big break and some of the most layered, complex, and vibrant roles to work in the black and white era of the cinema. Talking about him in an interview, she said, “Shantaram Sir taught me everything.”
Her role as Jodha Bai in cult classic Mughal-E-Azam (1960) was widely appreciated. She played the role of a woman torn between duty for her husband and love for her son.
In the later years, she was mostly seen as a motherly figure in films. She stood out as a grandmother in Bobby (1973), and her last film was Karz (1980), where she played the role of a mother to the hero Raj Kiran, and later to his reincarnation Rishi Kapoor.
She also played notable roles in super-hit films like Bidaai, Humlog, Bawarchi, Jeeney ki Raah, Mirza Ghalib, Ek Fool Do Vaali, Khilona, and Khushbu.
Along with films, she was actively involved with two theatre groups: the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and Mumbai Marathi Sathya Sangh. After she retired from acting, she produced shows, advertisements, and TV series. She is also credited with producing the famous DD show, “Wagle Ki Duniya”.
She has also written an autobiography in Marathi, “Mee, Durga Khote.”
In her later years, she moved to Alibaug and settled there. She passed away on 22nd September 1991.