Arati Devi, a star of the silent film era was actually born Rachael Sofaer. She made three films including Punarianma: A Life Divine and A Man Condemned. She died in childbirth at the age of 35. Her cousin Abraham became a Hollywood actor alongside stars like Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor.
Arati Devi in Punarianma: A Life Divine. When Rachel Sofaer’s father fell on hard times financially, he permitted his daughter to act under the name Arati Devi. She was accompanied to the set by her mother and married a proper Baghdadi Jewish man in 1933 at age 21, never again acting in a film. Her cousin Abraham Sofaer became a Hollywood character actor.
Arati Devi in Punarianma: A Life Divine. When Rachel Sofaer’s father fell on hard times financially, he permitted his daughter to act under the name Arati Devi. She was accompanied to the set by her mother and married a proper Baghdadi Jewish man in 1933 at age 21, never again acting in a film. Her cousin Abraham Sofaer became a Hollywood character actor.
The actors were mostly Baghdadi Jewish women and the rest were from the Bene Israel community, not the Cochini community. That community was small, did not speak Hindi or Urdu, and lived far from the film making cities of Bombay and Calcutta. A single Baghdadi family contributed greatly to Indian films, by giving us the actress-producer Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), her sister the actress Romila (Sophie Abraham), and her cousin the starlet Rose (Rose Musleah). Pramila’s son Haider Ali is an actor, who is best known as the co-writer of the blockbuster film Jodhaa Akbar.
The first Bihari film was the silent Life Divine or 'Punarjanma' with Arati Devi, Mr. A. K. Prosad B.L., Miss Pratima Devi, and Mr. N. G. Bhattacharya. It was produced by Raja Rana Jagarnnath Prasad Singh 'of Deo. Arati Devi was a Jewish girl of 19 years when she made the film. She was born Rachel Sofaer in Rangoon, Burma in 1912 and moved with her parents and siblings to Calcutta, India, circa 1923. She had made only one other film a year before (1930) A Man Condemned and her career was cut short by marriage in 1933 to Sassoon Jonah. She died in childbirth in April 1948.
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