Kangana Ranaut to play Noti Binodini; Know about this famous Bengali theater personality

After making an impressive portrayal of Rani Laxmibai and Jayalalitha in Manikarnika and Thalaivi respectively, Kangana Ranaut has now given a nod to play the famous legendary Bengali theater personality Noti Binodini. The Queen of Bollywood is known for portraying such strong characters and fans are expecting her to nail this role as well in the movie helmed by Parineeta fame director Pradeep Sarkar.

So who is Binodini Dasi aka Noti Binodini?

Binodini started as a theater artist at a young age

Born in the red light area in 1862, Binodini performed for the first time on the stage in the drama of the National Theater Company of Girish Chandra Ghosh when she was just 12 years of age. Ghosh is often given credit for ushering in the Golden Bengali theatrical era. Binodini was a very good performer right from the start and her greatness was evident during her debut act.

जिसे वेश्या कहकर दुत्कारा, उसी ने अपना देह बेचकर बंगाल को दिया यह तोहफ़ा!#History #free #culture #art #travel #inspiring #motivation pic.twitter.com/favYMZoX59

— द बेटर इंडिया (The Better India - Hindi) (@TbiHindi) February 13, 2020

Some of her most iconic stage performances include Bibaha Bibhrat, Agomoni, Durgeshnandini, Buddhadeb, and Palashir Juddha in which the young artist essayed different characters with great ease. She became a famous personality in 1884 after she played the role of a Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the drama, Chaitanya Lila.

Binodini’s Chaitanya made Ramakrishna Paramahamsa go into a trance

There is well-documented evidence of the Chaitanya act performed by Binodini in Kolkata’s Star Theater and one of the reasons is that it was attended by famous guru Ramakrishna Paramahansa. According to the documents Thakurji was so impressed and touched by the performance of Binodini that he went into a trance in the theater and later on even blessed Binodini.

Binodini’s abrupt decision to leave acting shocked many

Despite the fact that Binodini was quite successful as a stage artist she left her career at the young age of 23 and became a mistress of a man who saved her theater. But before that, she introduced the technique of modern makeup to the stage. British were very much impressed by the beauty and talent of Binodini and appreciated it with various adjectives like Queen of the Indian stage, Flower of the native stage, and so on.

This is an exciting one...💞💫💥#KanganaRanaut to star in another #biopic; will play #Bengali theatre artiste #NotiBinodini #PrakashKapadia
To be Directed by #PradeepSarkar pic.twitter.com/FOv7zZuHYE

— Girish Johar (@girishjohar) October 19, 2022

In her autobiography titled Amar Katha Binodini revealed her struggles, her journey from being the child of a prostitute to becoming a stage artist, and how men promised to marry her and turned their back later. Her story reveals how she wanted to build a theater and tried to do so with her money but the patriarchial society hatched a conspiracy against her and ultimately the theater was named Star Theater instead of B Theater.

The life of Binodini has been brought on the stage multiple times. But it will be for the first time that a movie based on her will be made in Bollywood.