At the age of 26 she became a widow with the responsibility of bringing up her two young sons. Durga Khote decided to act in films during that period, around 1930, when female roles were performed by male actors. She soon joined Prabhat films and made a history of becoming the first heroine of a Marathi Talkie film – ‘Ayodhecha Raja’. The film became a hit and then there was no stopping for Durga Khote. In 1937, she produced and directed a film titled ‘Saathi’, getting the recognition as the first women to step into this role in Indian cinema.

Those days Durga Khote was very fond of Marathi theatre and was actively associated with the Indian People’s Theatre Association ( IPTA) and worked in several plays for the Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh. In 1954, she notably performed the role of Lady Macbeth, in V.V. Shirwadkar’s Marathi adaptation of Macbeth, as Rajmukut- ‘The Royal Crown’, along with Nanasaheb Phatak . She performed in about 200 Hindi and Marathi films and her performance in ‘Dhartichi Lekre’ brought her Maharashtra state award in 1970. But, before that she was homoured with Sangeet Natak academy award in 1958 and The ‘Padmashri’ from Indian Government in 1968. Later in 1983 Government of India bestowed upon her the prestigious Dadasaeb Phalke award in appreciation of her service to the film industry.

Durga Khote will always be remembered for her notable performances in films like ‘Moghul-e-Azam’, ‘Bharat Milaap’ ‘Bidaai’, ‘Bobby’, ‘Bawarchi’ & ‘Abhimaan’. After retiring from films, she wrote her autobiography in Marathi, which was well received. The same was also translated into English by Shanta Gokhale with the title ‘I, Durga Khote’. She spent her last days in Alibaug, near Mumbai. MMW pays tributes to this legendary actress.