Aparna Sen (, ''Ôporna Shen'') is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

and thirteen Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. For her contribution in the field of arts, the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

honoured her with

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

, the country's fourth highest civilian award.

Early life and education

Sen was born in a Bengali Baidya family, originally from Cox's Bazar in Chittagong District (now in Bangladesh). Her father was the veteran critic and filmmaker

Chidananda Dasgupta Chidananda Das Gupta ( bn, চিদানন্দ দাশগুপ্ত) (20 November 1921 – 22 May 2011)—family name sometimes spelled 'Dashgupta' and ' Dasgupta'—was an Indian filmmaker, film critic, a film historian and one of th ...

. Her mother Supriya Dasgupta was a costume designer and earned the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for Chidananda's directorial venture ''Amodini'' (1995), at the age of 73. Sen is a relative of Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. Sen spent her childhood in Hazaribagh and Kolkata and had her schooling first at South Point School and later at Modern High School for Girls,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. She studied for her B.A. in English at Presidency College, but did not complete the degree.

Career

Actor

Sen's foray into the world of entertainment happened when she was fifteen and was photographed by

Brian Brake John Brian Brake (27 June 1927 – 4 August 1988) was a photographer from New Zealand. Biography Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Brake was the adopted son of John Samuel Brake and his wife Jennie Brake (née Chiplin). He was raised initially at ...

for the well-known photo from his 1960 "

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

" series of photographs; the photo appeared on the cover of

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

. Sen made her film debut at the age of 16, when she played the role of Mrinmoyee in the Samapti portion of the 1961 film '' Teen Kanya'' (''Three Daughters'') directed by Satyajit Ray (who was a longtime friend of her father's). She went on to appearing in up to four films made by the director including

Aranyer Din Ratri ''Aranyer Din Ratri'' (; English: Days and Nights in the Forest) is an Indian Bengali adventure drama film released in 1970, written and directed by Satyajit Ray. It is based upon the Bengali novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It em ...

, Jana Aranya and Pikoo. Four years after her first film, in 1965, Sen acted in Akash Kusum, a Mrinal Sen film where she played the part of Monica. Sen has been an imminent part of the Bengali film industry, playing the lead in popular films like Basanta Bilap(1973) and Memsaheb(1972) amongst others. Sen has also been a part of Hindi films such as

Imaan Dharam ''Immaan Dharam'' () is a 1977 Bollywood action drama film, written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar), directed by Desh Mukherjee and produced by Premji. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Apa ...

(1977), Ek Din Achanak(1989) and Ghaath(2000). In 2009, Sen appeared with Sharmila Tagore and

Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, and social activist. Bose has appeared in Bengali films such as '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', ''Kalpurush'', '' Anuranan'', '' Antaheen'', '' Laptop'' and '' The Japanese Wif ...

in Annirudh Roy-Chowdhary's Bengali film '' Antaheen''. The film went on to win four National Film Awards. In 2019, Sen acted in prominent Bengali films including Bohomaan and Basu Poribar.

Director

In 2009, Sen announced her next Bengali film ''

Iti Mrinalini ''Iti Mrinalini'' ( bn, ইতি মৃণালিনী en, Yours, Mrinalini; en, An Unfinished Letter) is a 2011 Indian drama film directed by Bengali filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sen collaborated with Ranjan Ghosh to write both the story and th ...

'', which starred

Konkona Sen Sharma Konkona Sen Sharma (born 3 December 1979) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works primarily in Hindi and Bengali films. She has received two National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. The daughter of filmmakeractress Aparna Sen, Sen ...

, Aparna Sen, Rajat Kapoor, Kaushik Sen, and Priyanshu Chatterjee. First-time screenwriter

Ranjan Ghosh Ranjan K Ghosh ( bn, রঞ্জন ঘোষ '' ''Rônjôn Ghosh') is a Bengali filmmaker based out of Kolkata, India. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the critically acclaimed ''Hrid Majharey'', a Bengali feature film starring ...

co-authored ''

''. This was the first time that Sen collaborated with any film writer or became attached to the curriculum of a film institute. The screenplay of ''

'' was an assignment in the Screenwriting syllabus at the Mumbai-based film school Whistling Woods International. It was also a major first in Indian screenwriting, as the first time that any screenplay from an Indian film institute was actually filmed. The film was released on 29 July 2011. In 2013, her film '' Goynar Baksho'' (The Jewellery Box) was released depicting three generations of women and their relationship to a box of jewels. It ran to packed houses and won critical acclaim from reviewers and critics. Thereafter, in 2015, ''

Arshinagar ''Arshinagar'' is a 2015 Bengali musical romance drama film directed by Aparna Sen. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Dev, Rittika Sen, Jisshu Sengupta, Kaushik Sen, Waheeda Rehman, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Roopa Ganguly, Jaya Se ...

'', an adaptation of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' was released. In 2017, ''Sonata''—an English film written and directed by Sen—was released. Adapted from a play by

Mahesh Elkunchwar Mahesh Elkunchwar (born 9 October 1939) is an Indian playwright and screenplay writer in Marathi language with more than 20 plays to his name, in addition to his theoretical writings, critical works, and his active work in India's ''Parallel Cin ...

, the film examines the life of three middle-aged unmarried friends played by Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lillete Dubey. In 2021, she directed her 3rd Hindi film '' The Rapist'', starring her daughter

and Arjun Rampal. In her interview with the ''

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Ra ...

'', she said that ''The Rapist'' will be a "hard-hitting drama that examines how much of society is responsible for producing rapists." The film is nominated for Kim Jiseok award at 26th Busan International Film Festival to be held in October 2021.

Awards

- the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1987. * National Film Award for Best Direction for ''

36 Chowringhee Lane ''36 Chowringhee Lane'' is a 1981 film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by Shashi Kapoor. It marked the directorial debut of Sen, who had until then been known as a leading actress of Bengali cinema. The film was very well receive ...

'' in 1981 * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English for''

'' in 1981. * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali for Paroma in 1984. * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali for '' Yugant'' in 1995. * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, for '' Paromitar Ek Din'' in 2000. * National Film Award for Best Direction for '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'' in 2002. * Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'' in 2002. * National Film Award for Best Screenplay for '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'' in 2002. * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English for '' 15 Park Avenue'' in 2005. * Karlovy Vary International Film Festival * Filmfare Awards East-Best Actress Award for ''Sujata'' in 1974. * Filmfare Awards East-Best Actress Award for ''Asamaya'' in 1976. * Filmfare Awards East-Best Actress Award for ''Bijoyini'' in 1982. * Filmfare Awards East-Best Actress Award for ''Indira'' in 1983. * Filmfare Awards East-Best Director Award for ''Parama'' in 1985. * BFJA Award-Best Actress Award for ''Aparachito'' in 1970 * BFJA Award-Best Actress Award for ''Sujata'' in 1975 * BFJA Award-Best Director Award for ''Parama'' in 1986 * BFJA Award-Best Screenplay Award for ''Parama'' in 1986 * BFJA Award-Best Actress Award for ''Ekanto Apan'' in 1988 * BFJA Award-Best Supporting Actress Award for ''Mahaprithibi'' in 1992 * BFJA Award-Best Actress Award for ''Swet Patharer Thala'' in 1993 * BFJA Award-Best Supporting Actress Award for ''Unishr April'' in 1997 * BFJA Award- Babulal Chowkhani Memorial Trophy for Original Story-''Yugant'' in 1997 * BFJA Award-Best Actress Award for ''Paramitar Ek Din'' in 2001 * BFJA Award- Babulal Chowkhani Memorial Trophy for Original Story and Screenplay for''Paramitar Ek Din'' in 2001 * BFJA Award-Most Outstanding Work of the Year for Mr. and Mrs. Iyer in 2003 * BFJA Award-Life Time Achievement Award in 2013 * Anandalok Award-Best Actress in 2001 * Anandalok Award-Best Actress for "Titlee" in 2002 * Kalakar Award-Best Actress (Stage) Award for Bhalo Kharab Meye in 1993 * Kalakar Awards for Best Director for '' Paromitar Ek Din''in 2000. * Kalakar Award-Best Director Award for

in 2012 * Best Director Award at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for '' The Rapist'' in 2022

Honors

Sen has served on juries at film festivals around the world. In 1989 she was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2008, she was elected into the International Jury of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In 2013, she headed the jury of the second Ladakh International Film Festival. From 1986 to 2005, Sen was the editor of the fortnightly '' Sananda'', a Bengali women's magazine (published by the Ananda Bazar Patrika group) that enjoys equal popularity in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

. From November 2005 to December 2006, she was associated with the Bengali 24x7 infotainment channel Kolkata TV as Creative Director. In 2011 she took charge as the editor of the magazine ''Paroma'' launched by the Saradha Group. Following the Saradha Group financial scandal, ''Paroma'' ran into trouble. It finally closed down on 14 April 2013. Sen and her editorial team launched a new magazine called ''Prathama Ekhon'', which was short-lived. In 1987, the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh bestowed the

on Sen in recognition of her contribution to Indian cinema. Since then, she has received several lifetime achievement awards.

Filmography

Bibliography

* ''Parama and other outsiders: the cinema of Aparna Sen'', by Shoma A. Chatterji. Parumita Publications, 2002. . * ''Aparna Sen calls the shots'' (Women in Indian film), by Rajashri Dasgupta. Zubaan, 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Aparna Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses in Bengali cinema Bengali film directors Brahmos Bengali Hindus Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian film directors Indian women film directors Indian women screenwriters Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Actresses from Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Kalakar Awards winners 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian actresses Women writers from West Bengal 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Hindi screenwriters Best Director National Film Award winners Film directors from Kolkata Screenwriters from Kolkata Women artists from West Bengal Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Directors who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award