Chandramukhi (character)

Chandramukhi is one of the pivotal characters in the 1917 Bengali novel Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Her character was inspired by the Hindu mystical singer Meera, who devoted her life to Lord Krishna; similarly Chandramukhi devoted her life to Devdas.[1] Chandramukhi is portrayed as a hooker with a heart of gold in the novel and its film adaptations.[2] Chandramukhi means "moon faced" or "as beautiful as the moon" in Sanskrit.[3]

Chandramukhi
Devdas character
Created by	Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Portrayed by	Chandrabati Devi Vyjayanthimala Madhuri Dixit Kalki Koechlin For more "Performers"
In-universe information
Alias	Chandrika
Nickname	Leni
Race	Indian people
Gender	Female
Occupation	Tawaif Courtesan
Spouse	Devdas Mukherjee
Religion	Hindu

In the novel

Chandramukhi is a courtesan who lives in Calcutta also known as Kolkata. She is considered the most beautiful and richest prostitute in the area of Chitpur.[4] She is first introduced to Devdas by Chunnilal, who returns to Calcutta heartbroken after the marriage of Parvathi "Paro". Devdas, disgusted over Chandramukhi's profession insults her and leaves her kotha. Chandramukhi, impressed by Devdas's attitude, later falls in love with him after realizing his steadfast love for Paro. She leaves her profession for Devdas and convinces him to marry her; he, however, has to reluctantly reject her offer as he has devoted his life to Paro. In return, Chandramukhi does not force him to be with her but waits patiently for him. Subsequently, she also moves to Ashthajhari village, where she lives in a muddy house located at the bank of a river and helps the needy. After some struggle, she meets with Devdas again, who now accepts her love.

In the film

Chandrabati Devi as Chandramukhi and Pramathesh Barua as Devdas in the 1935 Bengali film Devdas

In most of the film adaptations of Devdas, the story of Chandramukhi is similar to the novel. However, in most of the films her humanitarian work in helping the needy is not depicted. Unlike in the novel, a scene in which Chandramukhi and Parvathi meet was added in Bimal Roy's 1955 version when Paro, played by Suchitra Sen riding in a human rickshaw, comes across Chandramukhi, played by Vyjayanthimala, who just stares at Paro without a single word being exchanged between them.[5] The meeting scene of Paro and Chandramukhi in the 1955 version was still regarded as one of the memorable scene in Bollywood with the background music adding the impact to the scene.[6] In the 2002 version, the director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, extended the interaction between Paro and Chandramukhi, also showing them dancing together to the hit song "Dola Re Dola".[7]

Performers

Year	Title	Essayed by	Language	Other cast		Notes
				Devdas	Paro
1928	Devdas	Niharbala / Miss Parul	Silent	Phani Sharma	Tarakbala
1935	Devdas	Chandrabati Devi	Bengali	P.C. Barua	Jamuna Baruah
1936	Devdas	T. R. Rajakumari	Hindi	K.L. Saigal	Jamuna Baruah
1937	Devdas	Mohini	Assamese	Phani Sharma	Zubeida
1953	Devadasu	Lalitha	Telugu, Tamil	Akkineni Nageswara Rao	Savitri	–
1955	Devdas	Vyjayanthimala	Hindi	Dilip Kumar	Suchitra Sen
1955	Good Bye My Lover	Molly Lim	Malay	S. Roomai Noor	Chang Lai Lai	Malaysian film; also known as Selamat Tinggal, Kekasihku[8]
1965	Devdas	Nayyar Sultana	Urdu	Habib Taalish	Shamim Ara	Pakistani film
1974	Devadasu	Jayanthi	Telugu	Ghattamaneni Krishna	Vijaya Nirmala
1979	Devdas	Supriya Choudhury	Bengali	Soumitra Chatterjee	Sumitra Mukherjee	also known as Debdas
1982	Devdas	Anwara	Bengali	Bulbul Ahmed	Kabori Sarwar	Bangladeshi film
1989	Devadas	Ramya Krishnan	Malayalam	Venu Nagavally	Parvathy
2002	Devdas	Indrani Halder	Bengali	Prasenjit Chatterjee	Arpita Pal
2002	Devdas	Madhuri Dixit	Hindi	Shah Rukh Khan	Aishwarya Rai
2009	Dev.D	Kalki Koechlin	Hindi	Abhay Deol	Mahi Gill	A modern-day take on Devdas
2010	Devdas	Meera	Urdu	Nadeem Shah	Zara Shaikh	Pakistani film
2013	Devdas	Moushumi	Bengali	Shakib Khan	Apu Biswas	Bangladeshi film
2017	Devi	Shataf Figar	Bengali	Paoli Dam	Shubh Mukherjee	modern-day take on Devdas genderbent versions of characters
2017 – present	Dev DD	Sanjay Suri	Hindi	Asheema Vardaan	Akhil Kapoor	web series modern-day take on Devdas genderbent versions of characters
2018	Daas Dev	Aditi Rao Hydari	Hindi	Rahul Bhatt	Richa Chadda	modern-day take on Devdas

Social impact

Chandramukhi is one of the first characters in an Indian novel to deal with prostitution.[9] She was often depicted as a prostitute with a heart of gold.[10] The character of Chandramukhi had paved the way for other portrayals of prostitutes in films like Sadhna, Pyaasa and Pakeezah.[11] Actresses such as Nargis, Suraiya and Bina Rai refused to enact the role of a prostitute in the 1955 film of Devdas, which later went to Vyjayanthimala.[12]

Legacy

Chandramukhi was well-received in India by critics. In 2006, Rediff listed Chandramukhi in their list of "Bollywood's Best Tawaif".[13] Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India also ranked Chandramukhi at #5 in his list "Tart with a heart", saying that "The egotistical Paro may have given her boy friend the goby, but self-sacricficing Chandramukhi was willing to put everything on hold — her livelihood too — for her lover".[14]

Awards

There are many actresses who have portrayed Chandramukhi in film adaptations of Devdas. The first notable award was won by Vyjayanthimala in 1956 when she won the Filmfare Awards, known as Bollywood's Oscar,[15] in the Supporting Actress category. However, she was also the first person to decline the award, as she thought that her role was not a supporting one but was of equal importance and parallel to that of Parvathy in the 1955 version.[16] Other actresses who played Chandramukhi in Hindi versions of the novel have also won this award.[13]

The following are awards and nominations received by actresses who have played the role of Chandramukhi in film:

Year	Film	Nominee	Award	Result	Note	Ref.
1957	Devdas	Vyjayanthimala	Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won	She refused to accept the award as she thought that Chandramukhi and Parvathi were parallel roles and not a main and a supporting role[17]	[18] [19] [20] [21]
2002	Devdas	Madhuri Dixit	Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
			Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress
			Zee Cine Award for Best Actor – Female	Nominated
			IIFA Award for Best Actress
2010	Dev.D	Kalki Koechlin	Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
			Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance – Female	Nominated
2013	Devdas	Moushumi	Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress	Won

See also

• List of prostitutes and courtesans
• Hooker with a heart of gold

References

1. Guha, Srejara (2002). Devdas: a novel. Penguin Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-14-302926-7. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
2. Vidya Pradhan (21 Jan 2008). "Heart of gold, speckled with sin". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 Feb 2012.
3. Ghose, Anindita (August 2006). "Of Names of Women in Hindi Cinema: An Exploration in Semantics" (PDF). e-Social Sciences. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-10. Retrieved 16 Feb 2012. Madhuri Dixit in ‘Devdas’ (2002) is Chandramukhi which means ‘moon faced’.
4. Shubha Tiwari (2005). Indian fiction in English translation. New Delhi Atlantic Publication. p. 151. ISBN 978-81-269-0450-1. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
5. Corey K. Creekmur (13 December 2001). "The Devdas Phenomenon". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
6. Vijay Lokapally (20 February 2009). "Devdas (1955)". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
7. "Fighting Queens". Outlook (magazine). 13 December 2001. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
8. Allan Koay (2 Apr 2007). "A new era". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 22 Feb 2012.
9. Lindsay J. Proudfoot, M. M. Roche (2005). (Dis)placing empire: renegotiating British colonial geographies. Ashgate Publishing Limited. p. 160. ISBN 0-7546-4213-5. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
10. Sumita S. Chakravarty (1993). National identity in Indian popular cinema, 1947-1987. Harward Academic Publication. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-292-71156-3. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
11. Meghnad Desai (2004). Nehru's hero Dilip Kumar in the life of India. Lotus Collection, Roli Books. p. 95. ISBN 978-81-7436-311-4. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
12. Lata Khubchandani (5 Jul 2002). "'I did not approve of Vyjayanthimala as Chandramukhi'". Rediff. Retrieved 18 Feb 2012.
13. Dinesh Raheja (30 Oct 2006). "Bollywood's top tawaifs". Rediff. Retrieved 18 Feb 2012.
14. Nikhat Kazmi (16 January 2006). "Tart with a heart". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
15. Mishra, Vijay, Bollywood Cinema: A Critical Genealogy (PDF), Victoria University of Wellington, p. 9, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-24, retrieved 2012-02-18
16. Sheela Bhatt (22 Jun 2012). "A star spangled evening". Mumbai, Maharashtra: Rediff. Retrieved 18 Feb 2012.
17. "Vyjayanthimala". Upperstall. Retrieved 16 Feb 2012.
18. "The Winners – 1956". Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
19. Subhash K. Jha (2003-02-22). "Shah Rukh, Ash, Ajay Devgan's rich haul". Rediff. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
20. Raymond Ronamai. "The winners of the 55th Filmfare Awards are..." Oneindia.in. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
21. Bollywood Hungama News Network (2010-01-16). "Nominations for Max Stardust Awards 2010". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2012-02-16.

External links

• Chandramukhi on IMDb