At a time when girls were rarely educated she was sent to a boarding school in England at the age of nine where she grew up. In 1928 she met Indian film producer Himanshu Rai whom she married the following year. She contributed to costume design and art direction for Rai’s experimental silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). The couple then traveled to Germany where they trained in filmmaking at the UFA Studios in Berlin. Rai cast himself as the lead actor and her as the heroine in their next project the bilingual film Karma which was made in both English and Hindi. We are talking about actress Devika Rani the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and was awarded the Padma Shri. The first-ever lip-lock kiss in Bollywood The kiss from the 1933 film Karma featuring real-life couple Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai has long been recognised as the first-ever lip-lock in Bollywood and is often cited as Bollywoods longest kiss ever. Karma was one of Indias first sound films and was directed by Himanshu Rai. The film brought Devika Rani immense recognition making her an overnight star. The film premiered in England in 1933 and gained attention for a bold prolonged kissing scene between the real-life couple. However while it sparked interest abroad it was a commercial failure in India. Devika Ranis four-minute-long kissing scene in the film became a major topic of discussion at the time and is considered the first on-screen kiss in Indian cinema. The scene created a sensation with many questioning how an actress could perform such a scene on screen. Devika faced significant criticism and eventually the film was banned. During an era when working in films was associated with social stigma bold and fearless Devika Rani emerged as a trailblazer who defied societal norms and revolutionised Indian cinema. Devika Rani left acting due to... The sudden demise of Himanshu Rai in 1940 left Devika Rani deeply shocked. Following this she decided to step away from the film industry and bid farewell to her acting career. She later married Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and the couple chose to lead a simple life in Bangalore distancing themselves from the world of cinema.