Bhanumati Devi

Bhanumati Devi (15 May 1934 – 4 January 2013) was a Burmese-born Indian film and theater actress.[1][2]

Devi was born in British Burma on 15 May 1934.[3][4] She moved to Puri, Odisha, India, with her Indian family following World War II.[2][4]

Devi began acting in the theater in 1942 when she was just seven years old.[4] Some of her best reviewed stage roles were in Lakhye Hira and Napahu Rati Namaru Pati’.[4] Devi appeared at the Annapurna Theatre in Cuttack for more than forty years.[1]

She made her film debut in 1954 in Amari Gann Jhia when she was nineteen years old.[5] She was especially active in the Cinema of Odisha during the 1950s and 1960s. Devi's was cast in a lead role in more than a dozen Indian films.[1] Some of her most prominent roles include her character, Harabou, in the 1966 Odia film, Matira Manisha, for which she won a National Film Award.[1] Her last film was Jaydeb, which was released in 1986.[1]

Devi was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1985.[1] In 2005, she received the Jaydev Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Odisha State Film Awards.[1]

Bhanumati Devi died at her home on Red Cross Road in Puri, Odisha, India, on 4 January 2013, at the age of 78.