Seema Biswas (born 14 January 1965) is an Indian actress who works in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur's film '' Bandit Queen'' (1994), for which she won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

. She won the 2000

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

and the 2006 Best Actress

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for her role as Shakuntala in Deepa Mehta's ''

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

'' (2005). Her other mainstream films include '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' (1996), for which she won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress, ''Bhoot'' (2003), '' Vivah'' (2006) and ''Half Girlfriend'' (2017). In addition to films, Biswas has appeared in many television shows.

Personal life and education

Biswas was born in a Bengali family at

Nalbari Nalbari is a small town in Nalbari district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam. Nalbari is also the headquarters of Nalbari district, Nalbari District. Etymology The word ''Nalbari'' is derived from and . is a ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, to Jagdish Biswas and Meera Biswas. After completing her primary education, she graduated in political science with honours from Nalbari College, Assam. She studied dramatic arts at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Career

Biswas played the lead in Krishnan Kartha's ''Amshini'' (Hindi), it entered the Indian Panorama Section of Filmotsav 1988. However, the general belief is that she debuted after Shekhar Kapur watched her perform in the NSD Repertory Company and offered her a role in ''Bandit Queen''. Although she had earlier acted in Assamese cinema, this was her first big break into Hindi cinema. In 1996, she played the role of Flavy, a deaf and mute woman in

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (born 24 February 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and music composer, who works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including seven National Film Awards and twelve Filmf ...

's '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' opposite

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, film maker, mainly working in Hindi language, Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential actors ...

and won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress. Rooted firmly in theatre, she refuses to be typecast, and has worked in a variety of films and character roles. She has also worked in Marathi, Malayalam and Tamil films. Some of her Marathi films are ''Bindhast'', ''Dhyaas Parwa'' and ''Lalbaug-Parel''. She has been honoured with the Life Membership of International Film And Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television by the director Sandeep Marwah. In 2014, Biswas was a jury member of the 45th International Film Festival of India, held from 20 to 30 November at Goa.

Filmography

Films

Television

Web series

Awards

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Seema Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Living people Indian film actresses National School of Drama alumni Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners People from Nalbari district People from Nalbari Bengali actresses 1965 births 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Best Actress National Film Award winners Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Assamese cinema Actresses from Assam Actresses in Hindi television Actresses in Punjabi cinema Actresses in Gujarati cinema Actresses in Konkani cinema Actresses in Bhojpuri cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema