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

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of

Phoolan Devi Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...

in Shekhar Kapur's film ''

Bandit Queen ''Bandit Queen'' is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language biographical action-adventure film based on the life of Phoolan Devi as covered in the book ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'' by the Indian author Mala Sen. It was written, ...

'' (1994), for which she won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) 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 wi ...

. She won the 2000

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: 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 recognit ...

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; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sc ...

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

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

'' (2005). Her other mainstream films include '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' (1996), for which she won the

Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress The Screen Award for Best Actress is one of the Screen Awards of merit presented annually by a distinguished panel of judges from the Indian " Bollywood" film industry, to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a ...

, ''Bhoot'' (2003), ''

Vivah ''Vivah'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao in the lead roles. The movie was produced and distributed by Rajshri Productions. ''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

Nalbari Nalbari (Pron: nɔ:lˈbɑ:rɪ) is a town and a municipal board in Nalbari district in the Indian state of Assam. Nalbari town is also the headquarters of Nalbari District. The town is one of many towns covered under the proposed State capital ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, 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 theatre training institute 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 indep ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

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 filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfa ...

's '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' opposite

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest an ...

and won the

. 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