I, DURGA KHOTE: An Autobiography

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She is the account of he life and work of an actress who entered the world of Indian films when women from respectable families were still forbidden to do so. The era of silent movies was coming to an end, and the new talkies gave Durga Khote the opportunity to showcase her talent.

Catapulted into the film industry by early marriage and premature widow hood her autobiography reveals Khote's grit in the face of tragedy her determination to be independent, and her constant desire to learn. While her professional life was marked by success her personal life was overshadowed by disappointments and tragedies.

Durgabai weaves together the bright and dark strands of her life with the skill of a born storyteller and in a style that is lively crisp, direct and often humourous. She goes beyond the narrowly personal to give first-hand glimpses of the social, political and cultural life of the times. Durga emerges from these pages not as a woman exploited by the world of men but as one who went out into the world and explored it with zest.

Shanta translation from the Marathi retains the flavours and nuances of the original work. Gayatri Introduction discusses the genre of personal writing particularly in Marathi literature and Contextualizes Durga within it.

This autobiography will interest readers of Indian literature in translation, autobiographies and Indian Cinema, as well as students of women's studies. It will especially appeal to Mumbaikars as much of Durga Khote's story is about the city and its people.

About the Author & Translator

Durga Khote was a leading actress of the Indian film industry. She acted in nearly 200 Marathi and Hindi films in a career that spanned five decades and was also the first actress to start her own film production company.

Shanta Gokhale was formerly Arts Editor with the Times of India, Mumbai and is currently a freelance writer. She has to her credit a Marathi novel and several translations of Marathi plays an novels into English.

Gayatri Chatterjee teaches film courses in India and abroad. She wrote Awara in 1992 for which she was awarded the Swarna Kamal for the Best Book on Cinema and Mother India in 2002 part of the British Film Institute Film Classics series.