Binodini Dasi Biography 
Binodini Dasi, born in a family belonging to courtesans, was a renowned actress and thespian from Bengal. Born to prostitution, she started her career as a courtesan at the age of 12. Her first noted role happened with Calcutta's National Theatre in 1874. She was one of the first South Asian stage actresses to write her own autobiography. "Aamar Kathaa", based on her autobiography work was first presented by National School of Drama Repertory Company in 1995 in which Seema Biswas portrayed her role. Based on her life a Bengali film was made in 1994 with Prasenjit Chatterjee and Debashree Roy in lead roles.
She was born in Bengal in the year 1862. She started her career as a courtesan (dasi) at a younger age. In those days, art and dance forms were only performed by courtesans. Her first noted work as a stage actress was with Calcutta's National Theatre in the year 1874, under the mentorship of its founder, Girish Chandra Ghosh. It was during the time when European life style had just started affecting Bengali culture. Bengali theatre was gaining popularity in those days. In a career spanning to 12 years, she acted in 80 plays with memorable roles being Pramila, Sita, Draupadi, Radha, Ayesha, Kaikeyi, Motibibi, and Kapalkundala. She also wrote her autobiography, first one of this kind among theatre actresses.
In 1884, Sri Ramakrishna came to meet her. After her glorious period as an actress ended, she was named as the Flower of the Native Stage and Moon of the Star Theatre. She was one among the earliest Indian actors who introduced stage makeup to Indian scene.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 06, 2014
