Queen of Hearts
Suchitra Sen was one of the most celebrated actresses of Bengal. Her films with another famed actor Uttam Kumar brought the Uttam- Suchitra pairing a legendary status in the history of Bengali cinema. She starred in many critically acclaimed films and also acted in many Hindi block-busters during her long film career. She was the first Bengali actress to achieve international recognition for acting. After retirement Sen successfully avoided any public appearance for 30 long years. On January 17, 2014 Suchitra Sen died of prolonged illness. We remember this great personality on her first death anniversary.
Suchitra Sen was born on 6th April, 1927 in Pabna district of Bangladesh (then East Bengal)
Her actual name was Roma Das Gupta and she was third among her five siblings.
She was married to industrialist Dibanath Sen who influenced her to work in the budding Bengali film industry
Suchitra Sen's debut film Shesh Kothaay in Bengali was never released
Her first released cinema was Sat Nombor Koedi (1953) which was not a box office hit
In the same year her film Sare Chuattor where she had an image of the girl next door was a grand success
After that film the Uttam-Suchitra pairing in Bengali cinema became a phenomenon
She also starred in many popular Hindi movies, some of which were also critically acclaimed
Her first Hindi film was Devdas (1955) where she showed some of the greatest performances in the history of Indian film industry
Suchitra Sen refused the offer to work with renowned Bengali director Satyajit Roy as the latter wanted her to act exclusively in his film
Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen acted together in 30 movies
In her film titled Andhi, she played the role of a woman who held a position of great power in the Indian government.
The film created controversy and was banned in several states of India as it was considered to be based on the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Suchitra Sen bagged the award for Best Female Actor for her role in Saat Pake Bandha at the 1963 Moscow Film Festival
She is the only celebrity to refuse the Dada Shaheb Phalke award just to avoid travelling to New Delhi
After swinging between life and death during in a month long illness Suchitra Sen breathed her last on January 17, 2014
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