<Li> Svetoslav Roerich (1945--1993) </Li> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> Devika Rani Chaudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani (30 March 1908--9 March 1994), was an actress in Indian films who was active during the 1930s and 1940s . Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years . </P> <P> Born into a wealthy, anglicized Indian family, Devika Rani was sent to boarding school in England at age nine and grew up in that country . In 1928, she met Himanshu Rai, an Indian film - producer, and married him the following year . She assisted in costume design and art direction for Rai's experimental silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). Both of them then went to Germany and received training in film - making at UFA Studios in Berlin . Rai then cast himself as hero and her as heroine in his next production, the bilingual film Karma (1933), made simultaneously in English & Hindi . The film premiered in England in 1933, elicited interest there for a prolonged kissing scene featuring the real - life couple, and flopped badly in India . The couple returned to India in 1934, where Himanshu Rai established a production studio, Bombay Talkies, in partnership with certain other people . The studio produced several successful films over the next 5 - 6 years, and Devika Rani played the lead role in many of them . Her on - screen pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular in India . </P>

Who is known as the first lady of indian cinema