Suchitra Sen Biography

Personal Life & Career

Suchitra Sen (April 6, 1929 or April 6, 1931) is a Bengali actress who has attained legendary status because of her performances in Bengali cinema. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bengali movies, Uttam Kumar, are all-time classics in Bengali cinema.

She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any public appearances. When she left movies, she was slowly but steadily losing the position of leading lady of Bengali silver screen.She is the first Indian actress to be awarded in an international movie festival (Best Actress award for the movie "Saat Paake Bandha" in 1963 Moscow movie festival).

Her movies with Uttam Kumar are still shown as re-runs on Bengali TV channels such as ETV Bangla, Aakash Bangla,DD7 Bangla and so forth; many of them are available on video CD. Notably, she allegedly refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (the Indian equivalent of a lifetime Oscar) in 2005, preferring to live in seclusion out of the public eye.

She was born as Roma Dasgupta in Pabna district in Bangladesh 1931. She wed Dibanath Sen, son of a wealthy Bengali industrialist, in 1947 and had one child, Moon Moon Sen, who went on to become an actress. Her daughter Moonmoon Sen beside acted in a few movies in Hindi and Bengali. Moonmoon Sen's daughters Riya and Raima are beside actresses.Her father Karunamoy Dasgupta was the head master of the local school and her mother's name was Indira Dasgupta. She was their fifth child and third daughter. Roma had formal education in Pabna.

Suchitra made her debut in movies with "Shesh Kothai" in 1952, but the movie was unreleased.The following year saw her act opposite Uttam Kumar in "Sharey Chuattor". The movie became a box-office hit and it was remembered for launching Uttam-Suchitra as a leading pair. They went on to become the icons for Bengali melodramas for more than 20 years, becoming almost a genre to themselves.

She received a Best Actress Award for the movie "Devdas" (1955), which was her first Hindi movie. Her patented Bengali melodramas and romances especially with Uttam Kumar, made her the most famous Bengali actress ever. Her movies ran through the 1960s and the 1970s.

Her husband passed away, but she continued to act in movies, such as the Hindi hit movie "Aandhi" (1974), where she played a politician supposedly inspired by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sen received a Moviefare nomination as Best Actress, while Sanjeev Kumar, who was her husband in the movie , won the Moviefare as Best Actor.

She retired from the screen in 1978 after a career of over 25 years to a life of quiet seclusion. She has avoided the public gaze after her retirement and has devoted her time to the Ramkrishna Mission.

Suchitra Sen was a contender for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005, provided she was ready to accept it in person. Her refusal to go to Delhi and personally receive the award from the President of India deprived her of that award.