Moushumi Chatterjee

Moushumi Chatterjee (born Indira Chattopadhyay) is an Indian actress who is recognised for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.

Early and personal life

Chatterjee was born in Calcutta into a Bengali Brahmin family which hailed from Bikrampur in undivided Bengal. Her father, Prantosh Chattopadhyaya, was in the Indian Army and her grandfather was a judge. Her real name is Indira and Moushami is her screen-name.

At a young age, Indira Chattopadhyaya (her real name) was married to Jayanta Mukherjee, a gentleman of her own community and similar family background, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian Bengali way. The couple have been blessed with two daughters. The marriage has proved entirely harmonious and happy. Her husband, Jayanta Mukherjee, is the son of music composer and singer Hemant Kumar. Jayanta is also an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. With the support and encouragement of her husband and father-in-law, Indira accepted the offer of acting in a film and took Moushami as her screen name. Thus, her film career began only after her wedding. She has always prioritised her family above everything else.

Career

1967–1984: Debut and breakthrough

Chatterjee made her film debut in the Bengali hit ''Balika Badhu'' (1967), directed by Tarun Majumdar. In an interview, Moushumi Chatterjee quoted: "After Balika Badhu, I was flooded with Bengali movies but I wished to complete my studies. However, movies were in my fate hence when I was studying in class X, a close aunt of mine was on her death-bed and her last wish was to see me married. Hence, to satisfy her wish I got married." She was called as Indira at home. She got engaged to guardian and neighbour Hemant Kumar's son, Jayant Mukherjee (Babu). "I fell in love with Babu. He was the first man I came in touch with outside my family." She was then seen in Bengali films like Parineeta, Anindita.

Her debut as heroine in the Hindi film '' Anuraag'' in 1972 was directed by Shakti Samanta. The film became very successful. She played a blind girl who falls in love, and her performance earned her a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. ''Anuraag'' won the Filmfare Award as Best Picture. About her Hindi film debut, she said in an interview: "As my father-in-law was a renowned film celebrity, many film personalities used to throng our house. One among them was filmmaker Shakti Samanta, who insisted upon me to act in movies. I declined, but both my father-in-law and my husband encouraged me, thus I got Anuraag." When asked about her first role in Hindi films she said that " en Shaktida told me that I have to play a blind lady I was taken aback. I honestly told Shaktida that I may not do justice to the role as I have never studied a blind person, but Shaktida assured me that he will take me to a blind school and train me ... he insisted to do a small Mahurat shot before. ..When I reached the studio I was excited to see Bollywood luminaries like Nutanji, Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar fondly called), Rajesh Khanna, S. D. Burman and others. The moment Shaktida called action I did my Mahurat shot confidently and was applauded. After the shot, Shaktida told me that I had given the shot so skillfully that there was no need to visit a blind school!"

In 1973, she acted in ''Naina'' opposite Shashi Kapoor, ''Kuchhe Dhaage'' with Vinod Khanna and ''Us Paar'' with Vinod Mehra. In 1974, she acted with the then-struggling Amitabh Bachchan in the thriller '' Benaam'' and opposite Rajesh Khanna in the suspense drama '' Humshakal''. Her most successful film came at the end of 1974, where she played a rape survivor in Manoj Kumar's ''Roti Kapada Aur Makaan''. Her performance earned her a Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress. She went on to become a part of several successful films like ''Swarg Narak, Maang Bharo Sajna, Pyaasa Sawan, Jyoti Bane Jwala'' with Jeetendra, Swayamvar with Shashi Kapoor and ''Anand Ashram'' with Rakesh Roshan. She acted with Rishi Kapoor in four films none of which were successful.

She was paired with Vinod Mehra in 10 films, including ''Anuraag'', ''Us-Paar'', ''Raftaar'', ''Umar Qaid'', ''Mazaaq'', ''Zindagi'' and ''Do Jhoot''. She only acted in 2 films with Amitabh Bachchan, '' Benaam'' and Basu Chatterjee's '' Manzil'' (1979). Her Bengali film with Uttam Kumar, '' Ogu Bodhu Sundari'', released in 1981 and became successful. In 1982, she did the Marathi film (cameo role for song "Tumhi Adkitta Mi Ho Supari") ''Bhannat Bhanu''. Her successful films with Rajesh Khanna included ''Bhola Bhala'', '' Prem Bandhan'' and ''Ghar Parivar''. She worked with Sanjeev Kumar in Angoor, Daasi and Itni Si Baat. In 1985, she acted in the Bengali film ''Pratigna''.

After 1985, she graduated to supporting roles in several movies like ''Watan Ke Rakhwale'', '' Aag Hi Aag'' and '' Ghayal.''

1985–present: Transition period

From 1985 to 1991, Chatterjee got more offers as a character actress and she made the transition to roles of mother and bhabhi (sister-in-law), often pairing with Dharmendra or Sunil Dutt. She played Sunny Deol's sister-in-law in Ghayal. Occasionally, she got lead roles in films in the 1990s such as '' Ghar Parivaar'' and ''Aa Ab Laut Chalen'', both opposite Rajesh Khanna, then ''Santaan, Prateeksha'' (1993) and ''Udhaar Ki Zindagi'' with Jeetendra. Some of her films as supporting actress since 1995 include ''Keemat: They Are Back'' (1998), ''Aa Ab Laut Chalen'' (1999) and ''Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Hum Kaun Hai?'' (2004).

In 2006, Moushumi Chatterjee made a comeback to cinema, with Tanuja Chandra's ''Zindaggi Rocks''. She did the Indo-Canadian production ''Bollywood/Hollywood'' in 2003.

Her Bengali films as the lead heroine include ''Balika Badhu'' (1967), ''Parineeta'' (1969), ''Anindita'' (1972), ''Anand Ashram'' (1977), '' Ogu Bodhu Sundari'' (1981), ''Prarthana'' (1984), ''Shatarupa'' (1989), '' Kari Diye Kinlam'' (1989), ''Bidhilipi'' (1991) and later as supporting actress; ''Nater Guru'' (2003), ''Bhalobasar Anek Naam'' (2005), ''The Japanese Wife'' (2010) and ''Goynar Baksho'' (2013). She sang a song titled "Tomar Duare" in the film ''Mallick Bari'' (2009). In 2014, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the Bengali film Goynar Baksho and received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Political foray

Chatterjee contested in 2004 Lok Sabha election as a candidate for Indian National Congress, but lost. In 2019, she joined Bharatiya Janata Party. Her daughter Payal died on 13 December 2019.

Awards

Filmography

#'' Prarthana''
#'' Kari Diye Kinlam''
#'' Hatyara'' as Gauri Vijay Singh (1977)
#'' Be-Rahem''
#'' Sesh Sangbad'' (2016)
#'' Raksha'' as Asha (1982)
#'' Ghar Ki Laaj'' (1979)
#''Bhalobasar Onek Naam'' as Bini (2006)
#'' Shatarupa''
#'' Bidhilipi''
#'' Bouthan''
#''Nater Guru'' as Manisha's Mother (2003)
#'' Kartavya'' (1995)
#'' Muqaddar'' (1996)
#'' Rusvai''
#'' Badla aur balidaan''
#''Dekha pyar tumhara''
#'' Love in Canada'' (1979)
#'' Kahani ek chor ki''
#''Aan aur shaan''
#''Ek baap chhe bete''
#''The Cheat''
#'' Balika Badhu'' (1967)
#'' Parineeta'' (1969) as Lalita
#'' Anuraag'' (1972) as Shivani
#'' Anindita'' (1972)
#'' Naina'' (1973)
#''Kuchhe Dhaage'' (1973) as Sona
#''Ghulam Begam Badshah'' (1973)
#''Zehreela Insaan'' (1974)
#'' Us-Paar'' (1974) as Kamla (Kamli)
#''Roti Kapada Aur Makaan'' (1974) as Tulsi
#'' Humshakal'' (1974) as Radha/Sita
#'' Badla'' (1974) as Kalpana
#'' Benaam'' (1974) as Sheela Srivastav
#''Umar Qaid'' (1975)
#''Raftaar'' (1975) as Rani/Rita
#''Natak'' (1975)
#'' Mazaaq'' (1975) as Moushumi
#''Do Jhoot'' (1975)
#'' Anari'' (1975)
#'' Sabse Bada Rupaiya'' (1976) as Sunita
#'' Jai Bajrang Bali'' (1976) -- Devi Maa Sita
#'' Zindagi'' (1976) as Seema (as Moushumi)
#''Anand Ashram'' (1977/I) as Kiran
#''Ab Kya Hoga'' (1977) as Lady who asked for a cup of Tea
#''Tumhari Kasam'' (1978) as Vidya
#''Swarg Narak'' (1978) as Shobha Mohan Kapoor
#'' Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan'' (1978) as Shanti
#'' Phandebaaz'' (1978)
#'' Dil Aur Deewar'' (1978) as Saroj
#''Bhola Bhala'' (1978) as Renu
#''Do Ladke Dono Kadke'' (1979) as Rani
#'' Prem Bandhan'' (1979) - Meena Mehra
#'' Gautam Govinda'' (1979) as Sandhya
#'' Manzil'' (1979) as Aruna Khosla
#''Swayamvar'' (1980) as Roopa Bhargav
#''Maang Bharo Sajana'' (1980) as Sita Ram Kumar
#''Jyoti Bane Jwala'' (1980) as Anu
#''Chambal Ki Kasam'' (1980)
#'' Do Premee'' (1980) as Payal/Parvati Singh Dogra
#''Pyaasa Sawan'' (1981) as Shanti
#'' Ogu Bodhu Sundari'' (1981)
#''Krodhi'' (1981) as Aarti
#''Itni Si Baat'' (1981) as Asha
#''Daasi'' (1981)
#'' Bhannat Bhanu'' (Marathi film, cameo role for song "Tumhi Adkitta Mi Ho Supari") (1982)
#'' Angoor'' (1982) as Sudha A. Tilak
#''Justice Chaudhury'' (1983) as Janki Chaudhary
#''Pet Pyaar Aur Paap'' (1984)
#'' Jawaani'' (1984) as Prema Mohan
#'' Ghar Ek Mandir'' (1984)
#'' Urbashi'' (1986)
# '' Mahananda'' (1987) as Ms. Mahananda
#'' Sindoor'' (1987) as Sunita Kapoor
#'' Aag Hi Aag'' (1987) as Mrs. Ganga Singh
#'' Mera Karam Mera Dharam'' (1987) as Mala
#''Watan Ke Rakhwale'' as Laxmi Suraj Prakash (1987)
#''Param Dharam'' (1987) as Savitri
#''Taqdeer Ka Tamasha'' as Geeta (1988)
#''Waqt Ki Awaz'' (1988)
#'' Vijay'' (1988) as Rita
#'' Agnee'' (1988) as Shobha
# '' Aakhri Gulam'' (1989)
#''Aakhri Baazi'' (1989) as Parvati P. Kumar
#''Jung Baaz'' (1989) as Mrs. Krishna Prasad Saxena
#'' Sikka'' (1989) as Laxmi
#''Shehzaade'' (1989) as Padmini Singh
#''Taqdeer Ka Tamasha'' as Geeta (1990)
#'' Ghayal'' (1990) as Indu Mehra
#'' Ghar Parivaar'' as Parvati (1991)
#'' Pyar Ka Devta'' as Chief Justice Saraswati Manohar Rai (1991)
#''Zulm Ki Hukumat'' (1992) as Pitamber's wife
#'' Khule-Aam'' (1992) (as Moushmi Chatterjee) as Roopa
#''Nishchaiy'' (1992) as Renuka Singh
#''Prateeksha'' (1993) as Laxmi
#''Santaan'' (1993) as Laxmi
#''Udhaar Ki Zindagi'' (1994) as Janki
#''Ikke Pe Ikka'' (1994) as Kaushalya Devi
#'' Kartavya'' (1995) as Sharda Varma
#'' Jallaad'' (1995)
#''Kareeb'' (1998) as Neha's Mother
#''Doli Saja Ke Rakhna'' (1998) as Mrs. Chandrika Bansal
#''Keemat – They Are Back'' (1998) as Sulakshana Tripathi
#''Aa Ab Laut Chalen'' (1999) as Rohan's Mother
#''Na Tum Jaano Na Hum'' (2002) as Mrs. Malhotra
#''Bollywood/Hollywood'' (2002) as Mrs. Seth
#''Hum Kaun Hai?'' (2004) as Mrs. Martha Pinto
#'' Zindaggi Rocks'' (2006) as Kriya's mother and Mausi (double role)
#''The Japanese Wife'' (2010) as Maashi
#'' Goynar Baksho'' (2013) as Pishi (Elder Rashmoni devi)
#''Piku'' (2015)
#'' Sotti Aai To Jibon''

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterjee, Moushumi
Living people
Indian film actresses
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Actresses in Bengali cinema
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Filmfare Awards winners
Year of birth missing (living people)