Bengal's Helen, Queen of Hearts: Suchitra Sen

The Report Desk

Published: April 6, 2021, 06:48 PM

Bengal's Helen, Queen of Hearts: Suchitra Sen

Legendary actress Suchitra Sen gained popularity for her stellar performances in the Indian – Bengali films.

She is the first Indian actress to win an award at any International Film Festival. The silver screen chemistry of Uttam-Suchitra still reigns hearts and is incredibly popular among audiences.

Today marks the 90th birthday of this extraordinary film star. She was born on April 6, 1931 in Pabna district of Bangladesh, which makes her Bangladeshi by birth.

Her paternal home is at Sen Bhangabari village, located at Sirajganj district’s Belkuchi thana.  

She was named Roma Dasgupta at birth. Suchitra was the fifth child and third daughter of the family. Her father Karunamoy Dasgupta was the headmaster of a local school, while her mother was a homemaker.  

She is poet Rajnikanth Sen’s granddaughter. She did her schooling in Pabna city in Bangladesh. 

She gained colossal fame by starring in Bengali films alongside superstar Uttam Kumar. For her performance in ‘Sat Paake Badha,’ she won the Silver Prize for Best Actress in Moscow Film Festival in 1963.  

In 1972, the Indian government honoured her with the ‘Padma Shree’, the highest civilian award of the country. According to sources, she was also listed as an awardee for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, however Sen did not accept the award as she did not want to be seen in public.  

In 2012, she was honoured with the highest ranked award in West Bengal known as the Banga Bibhushan Samman. The award was instituted by the government of West Bengal in 2011 to honour the services of personalities in various fields.

Suchitra Sen married Industrialist Adinath Sen’s son Dibanath Sen in 1947. The couple’s only child Moon Moon Sen is also a famed actress.

Suchitra Sen became a part of the Indian film industry in 1952. However, her debut film was not released. Her unreleased debut film is titled ‘Shesh Kothay?’ (1952).

In her debut film (the one which was released) she was paired with Uttam Kumar in ‘Shaare Chuattor’. Then there was no looking back for her! The film was a box office success and the Uttam-Suchitra duo continued to present one successful film after another. 

They were deemed the nonpareil duo of the Bengali film industry for the next 20 years. She went on to win numerous accolades for her magnificent performances.

She retired from the film industry in 1978 after delivering the finest performances for 25 years at stretch.

Suchitra Sen the Best Actress award for her film 'Devdas' (1955), which was her debut Hindi-language film. 

Suchitra Sen died of heart attack in at Bell View Hospital in West Bengal’s capital Kolkata on January 17, 2014.

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