Rachna Banerjee (born Jhumjhum Banerjee; 2 October 1972) is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and politician. She is known primarily for her works in Bengali and Odia films, besides a few Telugu,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, and

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

films. Being crowned the 1991 Miss

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, she has also won five beauty contests in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

including Miss Beautiful

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

at the Miss India contest. She is currently serving as the Member of Parliament for

Hooghly (Lok Sabha constituency) Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Hugli-Chuchura in West Bengal. All seven assembly segments of No. 28 Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency are in Hooghly district. O ...

from

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

since June 2024.

Early life

Banerjee was born on 2 October 1972 in

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

(now Kolkata),

, and was her parents' only child. Her father was Rabindranath Banerjee. Her original name was Jhumjhum Banerjee, and was changed to Rachana by

Sukhen Das Sukhen Das (28 July 1938 – 4 April 2004) was an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and story writer of Bengali cinema. Early life and education Das was born as Sukhendranath Das in Kolkata. He spent parts of his childhood in an orphanage ...

, the director of her debut film ''Daan Pratidaan'' (1993). She completed her higher secondary education from National Girls' High School.

Career

Modelling career (1991-1992)

Banerjee won the Miss

contest in 1991 when she was still in her second year of graduation course from South City College. She entered several beauty pageants before starting her acting career and was often declared 'Miss Beautiful Smile'. In 1992 she missed out of the Miss India contest grand finale where Madhu Sapre was crowned the title.

Acting career (1993-2017)

chose Banerjee for the female lead in his directorial venture ''Dan Pratidan'' (1993). He changed her name to Rachana (which Das found in 'Rabindra Rachanabali'). Rachana has done around 45 Oriya movies to date. She appeared alongside Amitabh Bachchan in the film '' Sooryavansham'', one of the cult movies of its era.

Hosting Didi No. 1

Apart from acting, Banerjee is also hosting the Bengali

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

TV show, '' Didi No. 1'', which is aired on Zee Bangla on weekdays. On 5 April 2013 a fire broke out in the

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

of '' Didi No. 1'' at

Tollygunge Tollygunge (; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is known for being the center of Indian Bengali-language cinema, with filming locations used for other regional Indian films. G ...

, and she fainted following a

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...

and was rushed to a city

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

(Aurobindo Seva Sadan).

Personal life

Rachna Banerjee married her co-star Sidhant Mohapatra and divorced him in 2004. She married Probal Basu in 2007 and separated from him in 2016. They have a son.

Filmography

List of reality shows

Awards

* Kalakar Award for Best Actress * Bharat Nirman Award * Odia State Film Award * Special Film Award by West Bengal State Govt * Tele Samman Award * ETV Bangla Film Award * Zee Bangla Sonar Songsar Award 2015

Political career

Banerjee contested as

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...

candidate from the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency seat against

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

's sitting M.P Locket Chatterjee in the

2024 Indian general election General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...

and won by a margin of 76,853 votes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Rachna 1972 births Living people Actresses in Bengali cinema Actresses in Odia cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Kolkata Kalakar Awards winners 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Indian actor-politicians India MPs 2024–2029 Women members of the Lok Sabha Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance candidates in 2024 Indian general election