Devika Rani, an Indian actress, was often regarded as the first lady in Indian cinema. She met Indian film producer, Himanshu Rai and married him in 1929. In the same year, she assisted her husband as a costume designer and art director in his silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). She started her acting career in Bollywood with the 1933 film Karma, which was directed by her husband. She has also acted in films like Jawani Ki Hawa (1935), Janmabhoomi (1936), Achhoot Kanya (1936), Jeevan Prabhat (1937), Nirmala (1938) and Hamari Beti (1943). In 1940, Himanshu Rai died that ended her first marriage and in 1945, she married an Indo-Russian painter, Svetoslav Nikolaevich Roerich. The Government of India awarded her Padma Shri in 1958 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969 for her contribution to Indian cinema.