Suchitra Sen India's First Big Actress of Cinema

Did you know that Suchitra Sen was the first Indian Actress to receive an International Award in 1963 at the Moscow International Film Festival. She won the Silver Prize for Best Actress for her Bengali film Saat Paake Bandha.

Bengal’s greatest star, referred to as “Mahanayika”, Suchitra Sen featured prominently as a lead actor in in over 60 films, both in Bengali and Hindi. In her second film she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar, another iconic Bengali actor, in Sharey Chuattor, a film by Nirmal Dey.

This film established Suchitra and Uttam as one of the leading romantic pairs in Bengali cinema. Such was their popularity, that of 60 odd films that Suchitra featured in as a lead actress, 30 were opposite Uttam Kumar. Their pair acquired a cult status in Indian cinema and is considered to be one of a kind till date.

Bimal Roy’s Devdas (1955) starring Dilip Kumar was Suchitra’s first Hindi film, which itself got her nominated in the Best Actress category. In 1974 she was paired opposite Sanjeev Kumar in the Hindi film Aandhi directed by Gulzar, for which she was nominated for a Filmfare Best Actress Award.

Bio Suchitra Sen

Suchitra Sen was born in Sen Bhanga Bari village of Belkuchi Upazila, now in Sirajgonj District, Greater Pabna in the present day Sirajgonj District of Bangladesh, on 6 April 1931.

Her father, the late Karunamoy Dasgupta was a sanitation officer in Pabna Paurasava, Her mother, the late Indira Devi was a homemaker. She was their fifth child and third daughter. Ms Sen is a granddaughter of the famous Poet Sree Rajonikant Sen.

She received her formal education in Pabna Government Girls High School. The Partition brought her family and her to West Bengal, where she married Dibanath Sen, son of wealthy industrialist Adinath Sen, in 1947, and had one daughter, Moon Moon Sen, who is a former actress.

Her father-in-law, Adinath Sen, was supportive of her acting career in films after her marriage. Her industrialist husband invested a lot in her career initially and supported her in all possible ways.

Sen had made a successful entry into Bengali films in 1952, and then a less successful transition into the Hindi movie industry. According to persistent but unconfirmed reports in the Bengali press, her marriage was strained by her success in the film industry