Suchitra Sen

Suchitra Sen may not have become the legend that she is in Bengali cinema, but she brought to Hindi filmdom grace, subtlety, and understatement. Though she had an all-too-brief career in Hindi film industry, the few films that she acted in are all remembered for her outstanding performance.

Born Roma Sen, Suchitra Sen’s first film made in 1952, Shesh Kothai was never released. But Sharey Chuattar, her second film (made in 1953), won her both critics’ praise and audiences’ heart. It also marked the beginning of her on-screen partnership with Uttam Kumar that was to last over 20 years and immortalize the duo as one of the most romantic pairs of Bengali cinema.

Bimal Roy introduced Sen into Hindi cinema. Her melancholic beauty made her the perfect Paro for his 1955 rendition of the tragic love story, Devdas. Sen did several other films, but the success that she enjoyed in her home State eluded her in Bombay. In 1966, however, came Asit Sen’s Mamta, the remake of the Bengali film Uttar Falguni. Suchitra Sen’s portrayal of the twin roles of a courtesan mother and a lawyer daughter won her the Best Actress Award at the Moscow International Film Festival. But it was Gulzar’s Aandhi that became Sen’s biggest hit. She played a vulnerable yet ambitious woman who leaves her home and her husband to become a political leader.

Long retired from acting, Suchitra Sen now lives in Kolkata.

Suchitra Sen in Bambai ka Babu (1960)

Cast: Dev Anand, Suchitra Sen

Director: Raj Khosla

Music: S.D. Burman

Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Capsule Review: Bambai Ka Babu tells the dark and forbidden story of a criminal (Dev Anand) who seeks shelter in the home of a man he murders and falls in love with the murdered man’s sister. Though mawkish in parts, Bambai Ka Babu is redeemed by the strength of the narration and the moody black-and-white cinematography by Jal Mistry. The film brings the rakish charms of Dev Anand in direct range of chemistry with Bengal’s prized beauty Suchitra Sen (in one of her rare forays into Hindi cinema). Their unfulfilled love creates stirring motions of harmony within the theme of betrayal and guilt.

Dilip Kumar in Devdas (1956)

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen,Vyjanthimala, Motilal

Director: Bimal Roy

Music: S.D. Burman

Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

Capsule Review: Bimal Roy’s faithful and fiercely intimate adaptation of Saratchandra Chatterjee’s classic tragedy about a self-absorbed hero who destroys his own happiness in pursuit of love, is leagues removed from P.C. Barua’s minimalist version in 1935 and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s flamboyant epic in 2002. Roy’s deep-focussed character study looks at Devdas Chatterjee (Dilip Kumar) as a narcissist whose self- absorbed romanticism destroys those very things that it loves, including himself. Kamal Bose’s exquisite black-and-white photography captures the essence of the theme. The sordid backlanes and gullies of Kolkata are recreated with the same mellow meticulousness as the unspoilt village where Devdas and Paro grow into love. More naturalistic than stylized, Bimal Roy’s Devdas conveys a quaint majest in its epic thrust.