Swastika Mukherjee
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The Times of India TNN | May 27, 2014
Swastika Mukherjee is...
Swastika Mukherjee is an A-list Indian film actress. While she has mainly acted in Bengali films, in 2015 she made her Hindu-Urdu debut in a film co-produced by India's most prestigious filmmakers, Yash Raj Films.
Personal details
Date of Birth 13 December 1980
Born in Calcutta
Family
Daughter of actor Santu Mukherjee
Sister of costume designer | actress Ajapa Mukherjee Roy.
Married to (and divorced from) Pramit Sen
The couple have a daughter Anwesha Mukherjee, who acted in Take One (2014)
Daughter Anwesha @ Mani
Swastika Mukherjee acted with her school going daughter Anwesha in Mainak Bhaumik's Take One. Anwesha and Swastika Mukherjee’s work in the film was praised by critics.
The mother and daughter are more like friends and less like mother and daughter. Together watch they films like Akira Kurosawa films or an American television drama series. Swastika takes care of her daughter’s study. During examination days of Anwesha, Swastika is simply like any other strict mother. News on Indian Celebrities
Love life, marriage, relationships
There should be a limit on the number of times you can fall in love because heart needs to rest. — Swastika Mukherjee's Facebook post on May 21. 2014, a day before what some call a suicide attempt, and others ‘a fit of rage.’
i) Pramit Sen and Swastika Mukherjee got married when she was 18. Subsequently they divorced. Their daughter Anwesha lives with Swastika. News on Indian Celebrities writes: “Even before Swastika Mukherjee got divorce [she] developed close relationship with her co-actors and directors:”
Actually, I have not dated as many men as people claim I have! Swastika to Kushali Nag
ii) Parambrata Chottopadhyay, an actor – director was a bachelor at the time (and remains one). Swastika had been separated from her husband, pending a divorce. They never kept their relationship secret. They partied and went everywhere together. Kolkata society saw them as a couple.
033 was the debut film of telefilm-maker Birsa Dasgupta. The film hit a roadblock. Many of the lead players had to be changed. Swastika replaced Shahana Goswami because Shahana could not give the dates required. Parambrata replaced Shayan Munshi because Shayan ‘has a flamboyance in his face which is not needed for [the] character. [besides] Parambrata has a good-boy look. … Plus, Parambrata and Swastika are real-life friends, so I thought they would make a better screen couple,” Birsa told KN of Telegraph India.
The two stars had already acted together in Kaushik Ganguly’s Brake Fail Swastika’s reaction was, “[One] good thing is that I am paired opposite Parambrata again after Brake Fail. We have done a lot of TV together and we are good friends. It’s good that people are cashing in on our friendship.”
Indeed, The Times of India reported that “Swastika was even heard saying, 'This is it'.” Parambrata was close to Swastika's daughter Anwesha.
However, Parambrata and Swastika had a nasty parting of ways when he went to Bristol and Ike came into his life.
I am a disaster as far as relationships are concerned. I am not good at it. I can’t be good at everything, yaar! I am good in bed, not in relationships! Swastika to Kushali Nag
iii) Jeet, a successful actor, and Swastika were seen in many late night parties and late-night film shows. No one knows why they broke up. The rumour was that Jeet wanted Swastika to leave the industry and become a housewife. However, the actress was not ready for a life as a homemaker. Later, Jeet married Mohona Ratlani.
Kushali Nag, Telegraph India: You are in great shape. What’s the secret?
Swastika: Healthy sex! I had to lose weight and tone up for Detective Byomkesh Bakshi [a Hindi-Urdu film produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Dibakar Banerjee]
iv) Dibyendu Mukherjee This was Swastika briefest relationship. Dibyendu and she became a pair during the shooting of Nondinee. However, Dibyendu’s career was going nowhere; he was not a star. While her friendship with Dibyendu was in its initial stages, Swastika grew close to Srijit Mukherji. So, the actress broke off with the less successful Dibyendu Mukherjee.
If I say I love drinking, smoking, and I’m a sexually aggressive woman, how does it make me bad? …I don’t believe in being good Swastika to Kushali Nag, Telegraph India
v) Srijit Mukherji This relationship lasted longer. The two became an item while shooting Basanta Utsav. Srijit even went to Santiniketan to be with . Swastika. Kolkata knew about their relationship: and they were open about it. At a New Year Swastika danced on Srijit’s lap before friends. This relationship lasted longer.
Swastika once told a journalist ‘that very soon she would be known as Mrs. Mukherji (not Mukherjee).’ (News on Indian Celebrities)
However, after a while there was trouble in paradise. The Times of India wrote, ‘The relationship ran into choppy waters recently over small issues,’ as most troubled relationships do. They split after they made Jaatishwar together. Swastika refused to attend the film’s promotional activities.
The moment I think that this is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, they run away! Swastika to Kushali Nag
vi) Suman Mukhopadhyay: This relationship started in February 2014. It is generally believed that Swastika and he grew close either while shooting Shesher Kobita or during the film’s premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival. This, however, was their first film together. They actually became a pair after Swastika broke up with Srijit. They met friends as a couple.
However, troubles stated soon thereafter-—and the relationship had a gruesome ending four months after it began. They started fighting over Suman's marriage. The Times of India reported after the May 2014 incident (about which, see below), ‘While Suman had apparently promised to be with Swastika, her insecurity often got the better of her and she would go into a rage… After Swastika was hospitalized, though Suman did not go to meet her, he apparently called up friends to find out how she was’
And what makes me so bad? If I say I love drinking, smoking and I am a sexually aggressive woman, how does it make me bad? –Swastika
The May 2014 incident
The curious case of Swastika and Suman Mukhopadhyay
The Times of India TNN | May 27, 2014
Swastika Mukherjee did not attempt suicide, but hurt herself in a fit of rage, claim her close friends
Just over a day after her aforementioned Facebook post of May 21. 2014, when Swastika Mukherjee is believed to have checked into a five-star property little would she have known how the next few, hours would unfold. A tryst with director Suman Mukhopadhyay allegedly turned ugly, leaving the actress bleeding. She had to be admitted to hospital and needed plastic surgery. Though Swastika's friends say that she's always had anger management issues, they're clear on one point-she did not try to commit suicide on Saturday morning, but cut her arm with a broken bottle in a fit of rage.
On the sets, too, Swastika's irritable behaviour has left directors in a fix. Friends, it is heard, have even advised her to see a psychiatrist. In fact, even as she was recuperating in hospital, Swastika was reportedly guilty and kept asking if her relationship with Suman would work out. "This time too, I'll be left heartbroken," she is believed to have lamented to friends. Her parents and sister too are no less worried, since they've seen over the years how vulnerable she would be after every broken relationship.
Here's a blow-by-blow account of what is believed to have transpired between Swastika and Suman on Friday night. It has been pieced together from accounts of reliable sources who refused to go on record.
— Suman, who was in the US for work, had told friends that he would be back on the night on May 24. Swastika, on her part, told family and friends that she was leaving for Mumbai on May 22. The duo, it is believed, checked into a city five-star hotel on May 23.
— The couple reportedly stayed up all night and were engaged in a conversation that gradually got heated.
— Around 4 am, their tiff probably took a violent turn and Swastika, who was in an insane rage, asked Suman to leave. The director is believed to have gone straight home.
— Around this time, Swastika allegedly broke a glass bottle on her wrist, cutting herself and bleeding profusely . It is not clear if this happened before or after Suman left. It seems Swastika then called up a close friend. Since he was sleeping, he could not take her call and Swastika lay in that state alone in her room. When the friend woke up and saw the missed calls, he rushed to the hotel. The hotel authorities and her family had to be informed and she was taken to hospital sometime after 7.30 am.
Whatever I do in my personal space I always try to see what I can gather from there which will help me grow as an actress. If I am terribly sad for two-three days for a personal reason, when I recover I am like, okay, I can use it somewhere! —Swastika Mukherjee
Attitude towards on-screen nudity
Swastika Mukherjee has been quoted as saying, “I don't care myself. I know I am controversy's favourite child. And yes, I embrace nudity as I have nothing to hide.”
Other controversies
Shoplifting in Singapore?
The Times of India and The Times of India
Nov 2014: Swastika Mukherjee was accused of shoplifting at a boutique in Singapore. According to a report in mid-day, Swastika was in Singapore to attend Darpan Film Festival along with her boyfriend Suman Mukherjee and she allegedly lifted earrings worth US$225 from a boutique. The report further states that the boutique owner, Apsara Oswal informed the Darpan Film Festival authorities about the incident, claiming that the CCTV footage had captured the entire incident. He confirmed the story by saying that he has seen the CCTV footage and said that The CCTV footage shows her purchasing an expensive neckpiece and then going back to the display shelves. She tried the earrings, took the pair in her left hand and shoved the empty box behind another box.
No police complaint has been lodged against Swastika. She fled from her hotel on Monday morning along with her boyfriend, the report states.
New projects
Roopey Tomay Bholabo Naa (2013): she played a mother to a teenaged girl
Partha Sen’s Anubrata Kamon Achho? with Ritwik Chakraborty as the male lead. She plays a character in her late 40s and is greying.
When I was already a mother I played a college kid and people watched that. —Swastika Mukherjee
Arindam Sil’s Ebar Shabor with Ritwik Chakraborty and Abir Chatterjee
Subhadra’s Raag Darbari Kanhra (Music: Shafqat Amanat Ali; sound: Resul Pookutty)
Arindam Sil’s Reunion (producer: Sujoy Ghosh)
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015)
Swastika Mukherjee made her Hindi-Urdu debut in 2015 at age 35 in Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, in which she played the sultry film star Angoori Devi.
The role
While Detective Byomkesh Bakshy was being shot, the TellychakkarTeam wrote, ‘While it was earlier believed that Swastika character of Anguri Devi has been modeled yesteryear actress Devika Rani's life, it now emerges that Anguri Devi is actually inspired from the life of famous double agent Mata Hari and not Devika Rani.
Dirtector Dibakar [said ], "Swastika's character is not based on Devika Rani at all. It's a combination of Mata Hari and a famous character created by [Byomkesh Bakshy’s creator] Saradindu Banerjee himself. A deadly double agent and a famous and notorious fashion icon who defined the taste and scandals of her generation. Anguri loves to provoke."
Reviews
Swastika's contribution to the film received very positive reviews in all publications except one. Read on:
Rohit Vats, Hindustan Times: Sushant Singh Rajput is not the only good thing about the film. Angoori Devi (Swastika Mukherjee) looks every bit a potential exotic dancer who also knows a lot about what’s going on. A bit of diffused light on her face and she becomes as opaque as a butter paper.
Srijana Mitra Das, The Times of India: Swastika Mukherjee has a commanding screen presence as Anguri Devi [a] sensuous film star [who] intrigues [Bakshy]
Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express: The Mata Hari like Mukherjee is perfectly accoutered, ivory-handled pistol and all. She is the eye-catching glamour quotient of the film
Deccan Chronicle | Kusumita Das: The steely seductress actress Swastika Mukherjee [plays] Anguri Devi
Raja Sen, Rediff.com: Swastika Mukherjee, though given an awful lot of scenery to chew, do[es] impressively well
Shubha Shetty Saha, Mid-day: Credit to the director perhaps, but each of the characters… have come up with extremely convincing performances. Only Swastika Mukherjee, the Bengali actress who makes her debut in Hindi films, seemed to be trying too hard to fit into the mysterious character Angoori Devi that she plays.
Anuj Kumar, The Hindu: Swastika Mukherjee belongs to different era and as the femme fatale presents a kind of cross between Meena Kumari and Nadira.
Filmography
As an actress
2003 Suna Sankhali
2006 Kranti
2007 Bandhu
2007 Kali Sankar
2007 Pitribhumi
2008 90 Ghanta
2008 Hello Kolkata
2008 Partner
2008 Shibaji
2008 Tollywood Focus
2009 033
2009 Janala
2009 Lakshyabhed
2010 Byomkesh Bakshi
2011 Bye Bye Bangkok
2011 Mumbai Cutting
2012 Abar Byomkesh
2012 Bhooter Bhabishyat
2012 Tabe Tai Hok
2013 Aborto
2013 Ami Aar Amar Girlfriends
2013 Maach Mishti & More
2013 Mishawr Rawhoshyo
2013 The Last Poem
2014 Jaatishwar. The film, directed by Srijit Mukherji, won four National Awards.
2014 Take One (2014)
2015 Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (Hindi-Urdu)
As a singer
2008 90 Ghanta
