Monica Desai

Monica Desai was a famous Indian actress during 1930's and 40's. She was the daughter of Dr. Umedram Lalbhai Desai and Satyabhama Devi, a well-known musician of the early 20th Century. Her father was a Gujarati, and her mother hailed from Bihar. Her father who was a reputed Doctor of that period died in the year 1930.

Monica Desai first worked for movie 'Nimai Sanyasi’ which released in the year 1940. She was an actress who represented the era of upcoming character actresses like Leela Mishra, Ram Dulari, who made debut along with her and later ruled the Indian screen.

Monica Desai acted only under the direction of Phani Majumdar Phani Majumdar was a legendary Indian film directo >> Read More... and Kidar Nath Sharma. She did not concentrate much on acting as she got married to Phani Majumdar, a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Hindi cinema. Phani Majumdar is known for Meena Kumari’s classic films ‘Aarti’ (1962) and ‘Oonche Log’ (1965). Monica Desai had a sister named Leela Desai, who was a renowned actress in Hindi and Bengali cinema. Leela Desai has even acted in the film ‘Kapal Kundala' (1939) directed by Phani Majumdar. After completion of the venture, Phani Majumdar married Monica Desai. Monica acted with Raj Kapoor Rajkapoor is a film maker and movie director from >> Read More... , Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor One of the most notable names in the Indian film i >> Read More... in her career. ‘ Gauri Gauri is An Odian televion serial. This serial tel >> Read More... ’ was an Indian Bollywood film that was the seventh highest grossing Indian film of 1943 and this established Monica Desai as an actress. Later, she featured in a film ‘Devdasi’ as a heroine that was also top seven grossing film at the Indian box office in 1945. In 1947, she acted in a Hindi film ‘Chittor Vijay’ which featured Raj Kapoor and Madhubala in the lead roles. She appeared in the film ‘ Chitralekha Chitralekha is a serial being telecast on ETV Kann >> Read More... ’ which was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 1941, in this movie, she portrayed the character of Yasodhara.

This film also was a debut film for actor Bharat Bhushan Bharat Bhushan born in Meerut city of Uttar Prades >> Read More... , who later achieved fame with ‘Baiju Bawra’ (1952). Monica Desai had also acted with a legendary actor and singer K. L Saigal.

Monica Desai Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)