Aparna Sen

Aparna Sen

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Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen - Kolkata 2014-01-31 8137.JPG
Sen during the 38th International Kolkata Book Fair (2014)
Born
Aparna Dasgupta

25 October 1945 (age 75)
Occupation
  • Actress
  • director
  • screenwriter
Years active1961–present
Works
Filmography
Spouse(s)Sanjay Sen
Mukul Sharma
Kalyan Ray
Children2, including Konkona Sen Sharma
AwardsFull list

Aparna Sen (née DasguptaÔporna Shen; born 25 October 1945) is an Indian film directorscreenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received multiple awards, including nine National Film Awards and a Padma Shri.[1]

Early life and education

Sen was born in a Bengali family, originally from Cox's Bazar in Chittagong District (now in Bangladesh). Her father was the veteran critic and filmmaker Chidananda Dasgupta. Her mother Supriya Dasgupta was a costume designer and earned the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for Chidananda's directorial venture Amodini (1995), at the age of 73. Sen is a relative of Bengali poet Jibanananda Das.[2] Sen spent her childhood in Hazaribagh and Kolkata and had her schooling at Modern High School for GirlsKolkata, India. She studied for her B.A. in English at Presidency College, but did not complete the degree.[3]

Career

Actor

Sen made her film debut at the age of 15, when she played the role of Mrinmoyee in the Samapti portion of the 1961 film Teen Kanya (Three Daughters) directed by Satyajit Ray (who was a longtime friend of her father's). She then studied at Kolkata's Presidency College.

At fifteen she was photographed by Brian Brake for the well-known photo from his 1960 "Monsoon" series of photographs; the photo appeared on the cover of Life.[4]

In 2009, Sen appeared with Sharmila Tagore and Rahul Bose in Annirudh Roy-Chowdhary's Bengali film Antaheen. The film went on to win four National Film Awards.[5]

Director

In 2009, Sen announced her next Bengali film Iti Mrinalini, which starred Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen, Rajat KapoorKaushik Sen, and Priyanshu Chatterjee. First-time screenwriter Ranjan Ghosh co-authored Iti Mrinalini. This was the first time that Sen collaborated with any film writer or became attached to the curriculum of a film institute. The screenplay of Iti Mrinalini was an assignment in the Screenwriting syllabus at the Mumbai-based film school Whistling Woods International.[6] It was also a major first in Indian screenwriting, as the first time that any screenplay from an Indian film institute was actually filmed.[7] The film was released on 29 July 2011.

In 2013, her film Goynar Baksho (The Jewellery Box) was released depicting three generations of women and their relationship to a box of jewels. It ran to packed houses and won critical acclaim from reviewers and critics.[8] Thereafter, in 2015, Arshinagar, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet was released.[9]

In 2017, Sonata—an English film written and directed by Sen—was released. Adapted from a play by Mahesh Elkunchwar, the film examines the life of three middle-aged unmarried friends played by Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi and Lillete Dubey.[10]

Awards

Aparna Sen receiving the Best Direction Award for the year 2002 from The President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Honors

Sen has served on juries at film festivals around the world. In 1989 she was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.[11] In 2008, she was elected into the International Jury of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In 2013, she headed the jury of the second Ladakh International Film Festival.[12]

From 1986 to 2005, Sen was the editor of the fortnightly Sananda, a Bengali women's magazine (published by the Ananda Bazar Patrika group) that enjoys equal popularity in West Bengal and Bangladesh. From November 2005 to December 2006, she was associated with the Bengali 24x7 infotainment channel Kolkata TV as Creative Director. In 2011 she took charge as the editor of the magazine Paroma launched by the Saradha Group.[13] Following the Saradha Group financial scandalParoma ran into trouble. It finally closed down on 14 April 2013. Sen and her editorial team launched a new magazine called Prathama Ekhon, which was short-lived.[14]

In 1987, the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh bestowed the Padma Shri on Sen in recognition of her contribution to Indian cinema. Since then, she has received several lifetime achievement awards.

Filmography

Bibliography

  • Parama and other outsiders: the cinema of Aparna Sen, by Shoma A. Chatterji. Parumita Publications, 2002. ISBN 81-87867-03-5.
  • Aparna Sen calls the shots (Women in Indian film), by Rajashri Dasgupta. Zubaan, 2009.

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