Remembering Suchitra Sen 1931-2014

Suchitra Sen  was the first to portray the character of Paro in Bollywood. Her role in the 1955 film Devdas was inimitable and many heroines after her have tried to copy it, none succeeding.

Suchitra Sen was born on 6th April 1931 as Roma Dasgupta in Pabna District, now in Bangladesh. Suchitra Sen’s debut film Shesh Kothaay in Bengali was never released. The following year saw her act opposite Uttam Kumar in Sharey Chuattor, a film by Nirmal Dey. It was a box-office hit and is remembered for launching Uttam-Suchitra as a leading pair. They went on to become the icons for Bengali dramas for more than 20 years, becoming almost a genre unto them. She acted in 30 of her 60 films with Uttam Kumar. She received a Best Actress Award nomination for the film Devdas (1955), which was her first Hindi movie. Her Bengali melodramas and romances, especially with Uttam Kumar, made her the most famous Bengali actress ever. Her pairing with Bengal’s King of Hearts Uttam Kumar created classic romantic hits (Agnipariksha, Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Pathey Holo Deri, Kamal Lata, Indrani, Sabar Upore, Suryatoran, Shaare Chuattor, Sadanander Mela, Jiban Trishna, Ekti Raat, Chaawa Paawa, Shapmochan, Bipasha, Naborag, Trijama, Rajlakshmi Srikanto, Har Mana Har, Alo Amar Alo, Ora Thakey Odhare, Grihaprabesh and others) that have enjoyed ageless popularity and are watched, loved and admired even to this day.

The skyrocketing popularity of this romantic pair created a benchmark that remains unchallenged to this day. No other romantic pair in Bengali cinema in the subsequent decades has been able to match up to the magic created by Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar.

The diva was the first to portray the character of Paro in Bollywood. Her role in the 1955 film Devdas was inimitable and many heroines after her have tried to copy it, none succeeding.

She was part of many critically acclaimed Bengali films and also had a lot of Hindi blockbusters to her credit. In her 1975 film Aandhi, she played the character of a woman who held a position of power in government. That role created controversy, as it was considered to be based on the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

Aandhi

Mamta

She is the only actor in India who has refused to accept the Dadasaheb Phalke Award as she didn’t want to travel to New Delhi in order to collect the honour

Suchitra Sen was the first Bengali actress who bagged the award for Best Actor Female at an international film festival. It was for her role in Saat Paake Bandha at the 1963 Moscow Film Festival. Suchitra Sen received the award for Best Actor Female for her debut movie in Bollywood, Devdas.

Sen continued to act after her husband's death in 1970, but called it a day when Pronoy Pasha flopped, and retired from the screen in 1978 after a career of over 25 years to a life of quiet seclusion. Suchitra Sen led a very low profile public life after her retirement from films. She spent most of her time at the Ramakrishna Mission.

Suchitra Sen was awarded the Banga Bibhushan, West Bengal government’s highest award, in 2012.

Suchitra Sen was admitted to the hospital on 24 December 2013 and was diagnosed with a lung infection. She was reported to have been recovering well in the first week of January. She died at 8.25 am on 17 January 2014, due to a heart attack.