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The Times of India When Suchitra tore off Soumitra Chatterjee's vest! IANS | Jan 17, 2014 Suchitra Sen: The quintessential enigma despite 59 films IANS | Jan 17, 2014 The Times of India

The person

Suchitra was seen as an independent strong woman in personal life and was mother of Filmistan actress Moon Moon Sen and the grandmother of Rima Sen and Raima Sen.

Suchitra was the only celebrity to refuse the Dadasaheb Phalke Award; she did so just to avoid travelling to New Delhi.

Early life and family

Born Rama Dasgupta April 6, 1931, in Pabna district - now in Bangladesh - to a school headmaster father Karunamoy Dasgupta and homemaker mother Indira Devi

Sen lived to be 82.

The party girl

her glamorous off-screen lifestyle - she once playfully tore off actor Soumitra Chatterjee's vest at a party - Bengali screen icon Suchitra Sen made heads turn with her moves and stunned her contemporaries.

Filmmaker Aparna Sen recalled how, at a party, Sen had playfully mimicked a scene from "Saat Paakhe Bandha" - the film that fetched her the Silver Prize for best actress at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, the first international recognition for a Bengali actress.

"Asit Chowdhury had thrown a party after she won the award. Sharmila Tagore and me, we were very young then and we saw how she, very playfully, re-enacted the scene from the film where she tears (lead actor) Soumitra Chatterjee's vest...all in the middle of the starry gathering. We had never seen something like this."

A reclusive retirement

Contrary to the teary-eyed protagonists she essayed on screen, off it she was the life of the party - till she became a recluse around 1980. Sen continued to act after her husband's death in 1970, but called it a day when "Pronoy Pasha" flopped. However, post her husband's death in 1970, she chose to be absent from the social scene and retired from the industry in 1978.

Her daughter and actress Moon Moon Sen reminisced in an interview about her party-hopping days. "Guests were dropping by and my parents were always late catching a flight. Those days my mother was very glamorous and dressed for the evenings in black lace and red feathers."

"She wanted fans to remember her youthful looks. And she did not want to portray mothers and aunts on screen," her biographer Gopal Krishna Roy told IANS.

Late actor Dev Anand, with whom Sen had shared the screen in "Bambai Ka Babu" (1961), had attempted to get in touch with her during a Kolkata visit. However he was discouraged.

"I did try to meet her...but people discouraged me saying 'She doesn't meet anyone', and after a while I gave up," the actor had said in an interview.

Sen's other pre-occupations included spending time with granddaughters Raima and Riya- who have carried the legacy forward.

Like the later life Garbo, Sen withdrew from the public eye, refusing to meet even top VIPs and her old friends from the film fraternity. Photographs were almost always a strict no-no. Only her daughter Moon Moon and granddaughters - Raima and Riya - all known actors and a handful of close people had access.

"It was to preserve her youthful image among her countless fans," said Roy.

The older of the two, Raima is often compared to her grandmother.

She even turned down in 2005 the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, as she would have had to collect it in person from the president.

She kept herself occupied in religious chores, gardening, reading, and devoting her time to the Ramakrishna Mission. When she ventured outdoors, she took all care to camouflage her identity.

In 2012, the West Bengal government's conferred its highest award "Banga Bibhushan" on Sen in absentia.

The actress who had once famously stated, "I'm to be seen only on screen because I am an actress", will always live on, in black-and-white or colour, through her films.

Fans who usually longed for a glimpse of the actress, had once raised their voices against a local TV channel which was about to air some snaps of Sen while she was hospitalised in 2007. It was clear they respected her desire for privacy.

Career

Suchitra Sen made a mark for herself in the Bengali film industry and also established herself in Bollywood. Films were made to cast her in a role that would do justice to her established talent. She has left behind memorable roles in films like Devdas, Aandhi and Mamta. This diva was the first Paro of Bollywood opposite Dilip Kumar In a 26-year career with 59 films, the "Mahanayika" (greatest heroine) worked with Bengal's biggest matinee idol Uttam Kumar to usher in the golden era of Bengali cinema. She also came up with memorable performances in a number of Hindi movies like "Devdas", "Mamta", "Musafir", "Bombai Ka Babu" and "Aandhi".

Sen's seductive appeal - accentuated by her intense and dreamy eyes, subtle gestures, a bewitching smile as also the uniquely romantic way she used her eyes and face in close-up frames - floored countless male fans cutting across age and time barriers.

Among the Bengali speaking people, both in India and Bangladesh as also across the world, Sen's popularity remains unmatched.

The songs she lipped are still a rage, and she is still the reference point for budding actresses, even though her last movie appearance came way back in the 1978 release "Pronoy Pasha".

Acclaimed British film critic Derek Malcolm once said: "She was very, very beautiful. She had this 'still' quality. She did not need to do a lot of 'acting'."

Early career

In 1952 Sen took the nom de plume Suchitra in her first movie "Sesh Kothai". But the film was not released.

With Uttam Kumar

Suchitra Sen's pairing with Uttam Kumar was the most hit pair of the Bengali film industry and the actress reportedly told the producers that her name should appear before Uttam Kumar's in film posters

It was her [second film], a successful comedy "Sharey Chuattar", that saw the coming together of the Suchitra-Uttam team.

The pair went on to enthrall audiences for 20 years. They acted together in 30 movies, including super hits like "Agnipariksha", "Shap Mochan" (1955), "Sagarika"(1956), "Harano Sur" (1957), "Indrani"(1958), "Chaowa Pawa"(1959), and "Saptapadi" (1961).

The film "Saptapadi" showcased her multifaceted talent. She essayed Rina Brown, a drunken Anglo-Indian woman soldier, getting much kudos that paved the way for more unconventional roles.

With other leading men

Interestingly, many of her greatest performances came in films where she was paired opposite heroes other than Uttam Kumar. If it was Soumitra Chattejree in "Saat Pake Bandha", in "Uttar Falguni", in which Sen did the double role of a courtesan and her lawyer daughter, the male lead was Bikash Roy.

Again in "Deep Jele Jai", she played a nurse trying to cure the mentally ill hero - played by Basanta Chowdhury. "Hospital" had Ashok Kumar as the hero.

But there were those like Chatterjee, who had reservations about her acting calibre. "She was beautiful, but I don't consider her as a great actress", he often said.

The strong woman

However, Sen did give strong but restrained performances in most of the 52 Bengali and seven Hindi films she featured in, and was the second Indian actress to get an international award after Nargis' win at Karlovy Vary for "Mother India".

Her excellent depiction of the trauma of a woman unable to hold on to her marriage in "Saat Pake Bandha" won her the Silver Prize for best actress at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival.

She was a trendsetter in many respects - one instance being her entry into films five years after her marriage to Dibanath Sen in 1947, something unimaginable in those days. The marriage, was, however, said to be rocky.

Hindi-Urdu films

Sen made a well-appreciated debut in Hindi films with Bimal Roy's "Devdas" in 1955 as the elegant Paro opposite Dilip Kumar's Devdas. Despite several remakes, Sen's Paro reigns supreme.

It is said during the film's shooting at Mumbai's Mohan Studios, hundreds lined-up outside to catch a glimpse of her beauty.

Lyricist Gulzar, who had directed Sen in "Aandhi", once said: "(Producer) J. Om Prakash had wanted to cast Suchitra with Sanjeev (Kumar) in a film but I didn't like the story. I said you can't ask her to come all the way from Calcutta to Bombay for a detective film like that."

And then Gulzar made "Aandhi" with the two.

Added to her charm was her boldness, evident in the hit "Aandhi" (1975), in which where her character was modelled on former prime minister Indira Gandhi, fetched her a National Award.

Spurning the legends

Such was her demand that the legendary Satyajit Ray scrapped his proposed film "Devi Chaudhurani" as Sen or Mrs. Sen - as she liked to be called - could not provide the dates, says her biographer Gopal Krishna Roy.

Her refusal to act in a film by Raj Kapoor made headlines. "She was moody, and Hindi films were never her first love. May be, that's the reason," said Roy.

Her refusal to act in a film by Raj Kapoor under the R.K. banner made headlines.

It is said that Sen was put off as Kapoor knelt down on the floor with a bouquet in his hand and made her the offer.

"Why should a man bow down like this," she reportedly asked her close circle.

Memorable films

Here is The Times of India’s list of the most memorable films of Padma Shri Suchitra Sen.

Aandhi- Suchitra Sen played the lead role allegedly based on the life of India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in lyricist Gulzar directed 'Aandhi'. Sen's look in the film was inspired by that of politician Tarkeshwari Sinha. The film was not allowed a full release when Indira Gandhi was in power and was even banned during 1975 emergency.

Agnipariksha- Another memorable Suchitra Sen film is 'Agnipariksha' directed by Agradoot. The film stars Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar opposite Sen. Sen and Uttam Kumar were popular as a lead pair in Bengali cinema and went on to do many films together.

Deep Jwele Jai- Directed by Asit Sen, Suchitra Sen delivers one of her best performances in the film 'Deep Jwele Jai' as a nurse. The film was lauded for its performances and music, especially for the song "Ei raat tomar amar".

Devdas- Already an established star in Bengali cinema, Suchitra Sen made her Bollywood debut with Bimal Roy's 'Devdas' opposite Dilip Kumar. The film was a soaring success and was included in all must see Hindi films of all time. Suchitra played Paro, the love interest of the alcoholic Devdas.

Saat Pake Bandha- One of Suchitra Sen's best performance came from the film 'Saat Paake Badha'. Directed by Ajoy Kar, the film is regarded as one of the all-time great films of Bengali cinema. This film went on to become a big milestone in Sen's career as she won the prestigious Best Actress Award at the Moscow Film Festival.

Uttar Falguni- Suchitra Sen plays a double role in this Bengali drama film. Directed by Asit Sen, 'Uttar Falguni' was awarded the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. Interestingly, the film was remade in Hindi as 'Mamta' by Asit Sen himself with Suchitra Sen in the lead again.