Nandana Sen

Nandana Sen (19 August 1967), is an Indian actress, screenwriter, children's author and child-rights activist. Her first film role in Bollywood was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black (2005), starring Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh Bachchan, in which she played the role of Rani's 17-year-old younger sister.

After teaming up on a succession of projects with Indian directors including Ram Gopal Varma and Ketan Mehta, Sen signed for one of the principal roles in the jarring, terrorist-themed American drama The War Within (2005), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and, in the process, began to cultivate a reputation for being drawn to offbeat, challenging and demanding roles, often with a social or political theme.

Early life
Sen is the daughter of Nobel Laureate and Bharat Ratna economist Amartya Sen and Padma Shri winner Nabanita Dev Sen, one of the most prominent authors in contemporary Bengali literature. Nandana was born in Delhi. Her elder sister Antara Dev Sen is a journalist. Nandana Sen's first piece of writing was published when she was a child in the magazine Sandesh, selected by Satyajit Ray. She spent her formative years in various cities across Europe, India and America.

Education
Nandana Sen studied literature at Harvard University, where she was awarded the Detur Prize in her first year for topping her class, and thereafter won both the John Harvard Scholarship and the Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Award for Academic Achievement of the Highest Distinction. As a Junior, she was elected early into the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Subsequently, Sen studied Film Producing at the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC Film School. She wrote and directed various short films, including her thesis film "Arranged Marriage" which was shown at multiple film festivals. As an actor, Nandana trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, New York, as well as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.

Professional life
Child Rights
Along with acting in theatre and films internationally, Nandana also promotes the cause of child protection. Nandana is Smile Ambassador for the global children's NGO Operation Smile, UNICEF India's National Celebrity for Child Protection and against Gender Based Violence, and Cause Ambassador for RAHI (India's first organization to break the silence about child sexual abuse). She collaborates with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) as a Child Rights Expert and Juror for Public Hearings. Nandana has been actively fighting to stop the crisis of child trafficking in India, both with organizations such as the NCPCR and the Terre des hommes foundation as well as addressing this topic in cinema. She has been invited to speak on the cause of child protection in international conferences, including the Global Call to Action Summit for Child Survival and Development organized by USAID and the International Comprehensive Cleft Care Conference of 2013. Nandana Sen has combined her commitment to child rights with her acting work, including originating the role of the traumatized protagonist of the play "30 Days in September" (Prithvi Theatre) and the film "Chuppee/ The Silence" on Child Abuse (UNIFEM).

Cinema
Sen has starred in over 20 feature films from various countries and in various languages. Her portrayal of Sugandha in Rang Rasiya (2014) has been hailed by critics as "pitch-perfect," "superb," "divine, elegant, and enticing," "innocent and vulnerable," "fearless, uninhibited," "radiant in every frame", "poignant, lustrous", "stunning" and "as refined as it is bold". Sen's groundbreaking performance as artist Ravi Varma's muse in this historical romance on the religious censorship of art subsequently won her the prestigious Kalakar Award for Best Actress in 2015: in her acceptance speech, Nandana went on record saying that the award honours "the greater cause of free speech and expression, now under enormous threat everywhere, as shown by the horrifying Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris. The need to protect our creative freedom – whether we are actors or journalists, film-makers or novelists – is more urgent now than ever."
Filmography
Year Film Country Role Language Notes
1997 The Doll / Gudia India Rosemary Braganza / Urvashi Hindi credited as Nandana Dev Sen
1999 Branchie Italy Italian
Forever Canada Nadia English Short feature
2000 Seducing Maarya Canada Maarya English
2002 Bokshu, the Myth India English Indian English film[75][76]
2004 The Miracle: A Silent Love Story India
2005 The War Within USA Duri Choudhury English
My Wife's Murder India Reena Wadhwa Hindi
Tango Charlie India Shyamoli Hindi
Black India Sara McNally Hindi
2006 The Silence / Chuppee India Short feature
2007 The World Unseen UK Rehmat English
Strangers UK/ India Preeti English / Hindi
Marigold USA Jaanvi English / Hindi
2008 Sharpe's Peril UK Maharani Padmini English bbTV Movie
2009 Kaler Rakhal India Bengali
Perfect Mismatch USA Neha English
2010 Autograph India Srinandita Bengali
Prince India Serena Hindi
Jhootha hi sahi India Suhana Malik Hindi
2012 The Forest India Radha English / Hindi
2014 Rang Rasiya India Sugandha Hindi