Aparna Sen is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actress who works primarily in Bengali cinema. She first gained recognition as a leading actress in Bengali films from the late 1960s onwards, and later established herself as one of India's most respected auteurs, exploring themes of identity, gender, communal tension and urban middle-class life.
| Name | Aparna Sen |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 October 1945 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupations | Film director, screenwriter, actress, editor |
| Primary language of work | Bengali, English |
| Father | Chidananda Dasgupta (film critic and filmmaker) |
| Notable honour | Padma Shri (1987) |
Aparna Sen was born into a Bengali family with strong literary and cinematic connections. Her father, Chidananda Dasgupta, was a noted film critic and one of the founders of the Calcutta Film Society, which played an important role in shaping post-Independence film culture in India. She grew up in Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Hazaribagh, and was educated at Modern High School for Girls and Presidency College, Calcutta.
Sen made her screen debut as a teenager in Teen Kanya (1961), directed by Satyajit Ray, in the segment Samapti. Through the late 1960s and 1970s she became one of the most prominent leading ladies of Bengali cinema, working with directors such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. Her notable acting credits include Aakash Kusum (1965), Baksa Badal (1970), Basanta Bilap (1973), Jana Aranya (1976) and Ray's Pikoo (1980). She also appeared in Hindi films, including Mahapurush and James Ivory's Bombay Talkie (1970).
Sen turned to direction with 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), an English-language film about an ageing Anglo-Indian schoolteacher in Calcutta, with Jennifer Kendal in the lead role. The film won her the National Film Award for Best Direction and the Grand Prix at the Manila International Film Festival, marking the beginning of her career as a major Indian auteur.
Her subsequent films as director include:
From 1986 to 2005, Aparna Sen served as the editor of the Bengali fortnightly magazine Sananda, published by the ABP Group. She later became associated with the magazine Paroma.
Sen has been married three times; her later marriages were to industrialist Mukul Sharma and to musician Kalyan Ray. She has two daughters, including the actress and director Konkona Sen Sharma, who has frequently collaborated with her.
Aparna Sen occupies a distinctive position in Indian cinema as a filmmaker who began her career within the world of Satyajit Ray and the Bengali parallel cinema movement, and who later carried forward its concerns into a more contemporary, women-centred and urban idiom. Her films are noted for nuanced female protagonists, attention to language and milieu, and engagement with social fault lines such as communalism, ageing, mental illness and changing family structures.