One of the most celebrated Indian singers of the 20th century, Indubala Debi, passed away on this day. She was in her 80s.
She was born in Amritsar, the daughter of Motilal Bose, co-owner of Great Bengal Circus, and Rajbala, a trapeze artist at the circus. Soon after her birth, Rajbala returned to Kolkata, where she became a resident of Rambagan, the red light area, and was forced to take up prostitution.
She founded the Rambagan Female Kali Theatre with other women who had worked in circus. Indubala’s first stage experience was with her mother’s troupe, when she was very young. Very soon, she joined Star Theatre. Despite her mother’s objections, Indubala trained as an entertainer and also joined prostitution.
But she trained with the best teachers and artistes: Gauhar Jaan, Girin Chakraborty, Kamal Dasgupta, Jamiruddin Khan and Kazi Nazrul. She became, like another illustrious singer and her contemporary and friend, Angurbala Debi, a famous exponent of Nazrul’s songs.
She recorded her first song for Gramophone Records in 1916 and began to sing for the Indian State Broadcasting Service, which later became All India Radio, an association that would last long. She was also a playback singer for films and acted in many films, in Bengali, Hindi and other Indian languages. Jamuna Puliney (1933) is considered to be her first film.
She has to her credit almost 300 recorded songs.
She lived her life with an astonishing courage and openness, never shying away from talking about her origins. She tried to improve the condition of other women in prostitution and spoke about their rights. She was very proud of her collections of jewellery and perfumes. Her last days were difficult due to her circumstances. She passed away after a long illness.