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Written By - Team Nettv4u

Sarita Devi was one of the first Rajasthani actresses to build a name for herself in the Hindi film industry. This name may be unfamiliar to today's youth, but Ramanand Sagar's successful Ramayan TV adaption will recognise her as Mata Shabari. She had a long career on the big screen, having appeared in over 200 films, and a brief spell on the small screen, appearing in four TV episodes. Her portrayal in Ramayan, however, earned her unique praise and reputation. Sarita Devi was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on November 23, 1925. Sarita Devi began her acting career in the 1940s, when the state was conservative and parda-pratha was dominant. Women were limited to the four walls of their homes, let alone cinema; even local theatre productions were unthinkable.

In such difficult circumstances, her career began with her father, Poonamchandji Chauhan's, approval and encouragement. After overcoming her early difficulties in reaching Bombay, she won a supporting role in her debut film Tohfa (1947). She was only 22 years old when she played Anuradha's mother. Rivaaj (1947, Paro's mother), Hip Hip Hurray (Chaubeji, 1948, Nirupa Roy's Bua), Chunariya (1948), Chakori (1949), and more films featured her in similar roles. Since then, she has solely performed character parts and brought to life a variety of supporting characters such as Maa, Naani, Daadi, Mausi, Bua, Mami, Behen, Bhabhi, Housemaid, Caretaker, and others. As a result, Sarita Devi became the first Rajasthani character actress in Hindi films. During her early years, she worked on theatre plays in Rajasthani, Marathi, and Gujarati. Similarly, she continued to appear in regional films.

She has six films in Rajasthani, eight films in Gujarati, four films in Bhojpuri, and one film each in Marathi, Bengali, and Haryanvi. Sarita Devi received significant praise for her portrayal as Sanvali Devi in Baba Ramdev Baba Ramdev is an Indian Entrepreneur and spiritua >> Read More... (1963). Viewers of the film recall her precise diction and great Rajasthani speech delivery. She was picked to dub for the Hindi versions of seven Russian films due to her superb dialogue delivery. Diamond Pictures recognised her for her work on the Russian film The Fall of Berlin (Padeniye Berlina, 1950). Despite her passion to the film industry, she was not a filmgoer. She hadn't watched most of her own films, and the handful she had seen were on television long later. In reality, she viewed two of her seminal Rajasthani films, Babasa Ri Ladli (1961) and Baba Ramdev (1963), around 30-32 years later, in March 1993, during the Rajasthani Film Mahotsav organised by Kala Triveni Sansthan.

Sarita Devi was honoured at this ceremony in Jodhpur to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Rajasthani Film Industry. Sarita Devi was always dedicated to her career and her family. Her personal life, on the other hand, was a perpetual fight against adversity. After only two months of marriage, she was widowed at the age of twelve. She remarried theatrical actor-writer-director L C Goyal in 1951, who died in 1990. Despite domestic and financial difficulties, she devoted her all to raise her children (a daughter and four sons). Her health began to deteriorate after portraying roles in films such as Aadmi Khilona Hai (1993) and the TV serial Shri Krishna Shri Krishna was an Indian television serial which >> Read More... (1993). She remained bedridden for the last 5-6 years of her life. Sarita Devi left this world on June 28, 2001.

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