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Gopaldas Saxena 'Neeraj' (popularly known as Niraj or Neeraj) is among the best-known poets and authors in Hindi literature. He is also a famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He was born in the small village Ekdil of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, India on 4 January 1924. He wrote under the pen name "Neeraj". His style is considered easy to understand, but has also been compared with high quality Hindi literature. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2007.^{[citation needed]} Recently he recited some of his works at North India's premier annual cultural festival, Spoculit 2012.http://regalads.com/blog/

Besides writing, he earned his living teaching in a college and was a Professor of Hindi Literature in Aligarh.^{[citation needed]} Several of his poems and songs have been used in Hindi movies and are considered famous. He wrote songs for several Hindi Movies and attained a unique position as a songwriter who wrote with equal facility in both pure Hindi as well as Urdu as opposed to Hindi-Urdu mix, which is increasingly becoming more common. But as per the needs and requirements of the Hindi Film Industry, the majority of his songs are nonetheless, in mixed but chaste Hindi-Urdu languages.

In the television interview, Gopaldas Neeraj called himself an unlucky poet which led to his stopping himself from writing film songs and confining himself to just writing and getting his poems published. The reason for this mentioned by him was that at least two or three prominent Music Directors of the Hindi Film Industry for whom he wrote very successful and popular songs, had expired. He mentioned the death of Jaikishan of the Music Duo Shankar-Jaikishan as well as of S.D.Burman or Sachin Dev Burman, for both of whom he had written highly popular film songs. The deaths of these Music Directors when they as well as Gopaldas Neeraj were at the peak of their popularity, left him very depressed and he made a decision to quit the film industry.

His publications are first choice of poetry readers. He has so many collections i.e. "Neeraj ki Paati", "Baadlon se Salaam Letaa Hoon" and "Geet jo Gaaye Nahin" etc.

now a days he works as the chancellor of mangalayatan university ,aligarh

Writings that appear in movies[link]

Neeraj's poems which appeared in Hindi Movies as songs only added to their popularity. all these songs are in mixed but chaste Urdu-Hindi languages.

A couple of verses from his writings, which were adopted in movies, are below with their English translation

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gopaldas Neeraj

• Get All Poems of Gopaldas Neeraj at Hindi Sahitya
• Gopaldas Neeraj at Kavita Kosh
• C.M. announces Rs. 20 lakh assistance for Gopaldas Neeraj Foundation
• International Hindi association features Gopaldas Neeraj
• Neeraj at the Internet Movie Database
• Life and work of Neeraj
• भारतीय साहित्य संग्रह में नीरज की कृतियाँ
• [1] An account from the Atlanta appearance by the poet Neeraj which took place in October 2004

Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 - 31 October 1975), also credited as Burman da, Kumar Sachindra Dev Barman, Sachin karta or S. D. Burman, was one of the most famous music composers for Hindi movies and a Bengali singer and composer. His son Rahul Dev Burman also achieved great success as a Bollywood music director in his own right. S D Burman composed music for 100 movies, including Bengali films.

S.D. Burman's compositions have been mainly sung to a large extent by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhonsle and Shamshad Begum. Mukesh and Talat Mahmood have also sung songs composed by him. He also sang about 20 film songs (inclusive of Bengali films) for which he composed music though he may not have been the music director of the films.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

S. D. Burman was born on 1 October 1906, in Comilla, British India, now in Bangladesh, to Rajkumari Nirmala Devi, princess of Manipur and Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman, the only son of 'Ishanachandra Dev Burman', Raja of Tripura, (r. 1849-1862).His father hailed from the royal family of Tripura while his mother hailed from the royal family of Manipur.Sachin was the youngest of the five sons, of his parents, who had nine children in all.

He did his B.A. from Calcutta University^[1] He started his formal music education by training under the famous musician K. C. Dey from 1925 to 1930; thereafter in 1932 he came under the tutelage of Bhismadev Chattopadhaya, who was only three years his senior. This was followed by training from Kahifa Badal Khan, Sarangi player, and Ustad Allauddin Khan.^[2] Eventually he got K.C. Dey, Ustad Badal Khan and Allauddi Khan into Agartala, noted Bengal poet laureate, Kazi Nazrul Islam also spent time in their family home, Comilla House, in Agartala and Comilla.

1930s[link]

He started working as a radio singer on Calcutta Radio Station in 1932, where his early work was based on Bengali folk-music, and soon made a reputation for himself in folk and light classical music, consequently his film compositions were often influenced by his huge repertory of folk-tunes from the Bengali, Bhatiali, Sari and Dhamail folk traditions of Bangladesh.His music also bore heavy influences of Rabindra sangeet and Nazrul Geeti.In the same year, his first record was also released (Hindustan Musical Product), with "Khamaj" semi classical, E Pathery Aaj Eso Priyo on one side and the folk Dakle Kokil Roj Bihane on the reverse side" on 78 rpm for Hindustan Records.^[3] In the following decade he reached his peak as a singer, cutting as many as 131 songs in Bengali, and also sang for composers like Himangsu Dutta, RC Boral, Nazrul Islam and Sailesh Das Gupta.^[4]

In 1934, he attended the All India Music Conference, at the invitation of Allahabad University, where he presented his Bengali Thumri, all to an illustrious audience, with the likes of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and the inimitable Abdul Karim Khan of Kirana Gharana. Later in the year, he was invited to Bengal Music Conference, Kolkata, which was inaugurated by Rabindranath Tagore, here again he sang his thumri, and was awarded a Gold Medal.^[4]

He built a house, in Southend Park, Ballygunge, Kolkata, and in 1937, at the All India Music Conference, Allahabad, he met a music student at Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan, Meera Dasgupta (1923–2007), the granddaughter of Justice Raibahadur Kamalnath Dasgupta from Dhaka; soon she became his student and they married on 10 February 1938 in Calcutta,^[5][6] though according to some,having married a non-royal, created a furor within the royal family, and subsequently he severed his ties with the family, and forfeited his inheritance.^[7][8]According to some others,S.D.Burman severed his ties with the royal family cause he was frustrated with the treatment meted out to his father and his brothers by the royal family of Tripura.The couple's only child, Rahul Dev Burman was born in 1939, and later, both Meera Devi and Rahul assisted, S.D. Burman with some of the musical compositions.^[9][10] S D Burman also did a singing role in Urdu film Selima (1934) and another role in Dhiren Ganguli's film, Bidrohi (1935)^[2]

As a music composer, he started with Bengali plays, Sati Tirtha and Janani, and eventually gave his first score in film, Rajgee in 1937, his second film Rajkumarer Nirbashan (1940) became a hit, there was no turning back after that. He gave successful music in Bengali films like, Jevaan Sangini, Protishodh (1941), Abhoyer Biye (1942), and Chaddobeshi (1944), he continued giving music in Bengali cinema, even after he moved to Mumbai in 1944, and started the second inning of his musical career, giving music for over 17 Bengali films in the all.^[4]

He made his film debut singing in Yahudi ki Ladki (1933) but the songs were scrapped and re-sung by Pahari Sanyal. His first film as a singer was finally Sanjher Pidim (1935).

1940s[link]

In 1944, he moved to Mumbai, at the request of Sasadhar Mukherjee of Filmistan, who asked him to give score for two Ashok Kumar starrers, Shikari (1946) and Aath Din,^[11] but his first major breakthrough came the following year with the company's Do Bhai (1947). The song Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya sung by Geeta Dutt was her breakthrough song into the film industry. In 1949, came Shabnam, his biggest hit yet with Filmistan, especially noticeable for its multi-lingual hit song Yeh Duniya Roop ki Chor, by Shamshad Begum, which became a rage in those days^[12]

1950s[link]

Disillusioned with the materialism of Mumbai, S D Burman left the Ashok Kumar starrer Mashaal (1950) incomplete and decided to board the first train back to Calcutta. Fortunately, he was dissuaded from doing so.

In 1950s, S D Burman teamed up with Dev Anand's Nav Ketan Productions to create musical hits like Taxi Driver, Nau do Gyarah (1957) and Kala Paani(1958). In addition, he gave music for Munimji (1955) and Paying Guest (1957). The songs sung by Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar became popular. Burman da composed the music for Dev Anand's production company Navketan's first film Afsar (1950). With the success of their second film, Baazi (1951) he made it to the top and a long association with Navketan and Dev Anand was on its way. "Baazi"'s jazzy musical score revealed a new facet of singer Geeta Dutt, who was mainly known for melancholy songs and bhajans. While every song in the film was a hit, one stood out for special appeal - "Tadbir se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer", a ghazal that was occidentalized into a seductive song.The 'jaal' song 'Yeh raat Yeh chandni' by Hemant Kumar is an all time great classic.

He also wrote music for the Guru Dutt classics - Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). The soundtrack of Devdas (1955) was also composed by him. House No. 44 (1955), Funtoosh (1956), and Solva Saal (1958) were other S D Burman hits. In 1959 came Sujata, a masterpiece by Bimal Roy, and S D created magic again with "Jalte hai jiske liye" by Talat Mamood. When Guru Dutt made comparatively light-weight films like Baazi and Jaal (1952), Burmanda reflected their mood with compositions like Suno Gajar Kya Gaye or De Bhi Chuke Hum and when Guru Dutt made his somber masterpieces - Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz ke Phool (1959), he was right on target with Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind and Waqt ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam. In 2004, the soundtrack for Pyaasa was chosen as one of "The Best Music in Film" by Sight & Sound, the British Film Institute magazine.^[13]

In 1957, S D Burman fell out with Lata Mangeshkar and adopted her younger sister Asha Bhosle as his lead female singer. The team of S D Burman, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri became popular for their duet songs. Thus, he was responsible along with O.P. Nayyar for shaping Asha Bhosle as a singer of repute, who became his daughter-in-law after she married Rahul Dev Burman.

In 1958, S D Burman gave music for Kishore Kumar's house production Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, the same year he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Music direction of Lajwanti and remains the only music director to have won the prestigious award.^[14]

1960s[link]

Early on in his career, he refused to allow his voice be lip-synced on film by actors,^[4] as a result, even later on, in Hindi cinema, his thin yet powerful voice was often used as bardic commentary to haunting results, as in Ore Majhi Mere Sajan Hai Us Paar Bandini (1963), Wahaan Kaun hai Tera from "Guide" (1965) and finally Safal Hogi Teri Aradhana from Aradhana (1969),^[15] for which he received the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the year, 1970 .

Ill health caused a slump in his career in the early 1960s but he gave many hit films in late 1960s. In 1961, S D Burman and Lata Mangeshkar came together during the recording of R D Burman's first song for the movie Chhote Nawab (1961). They reconciled their differences and started working again in 1962.

The Dev Anand-S D Burman partnership, under Navketan banner, continued to churn out musical hits like Bombai Ka Baboo (1960), Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Teen Devian (1965), Guide (1965) and Jewel Thief (1967). In 1963, he composed songs for Meri Surat Teri Aankhen and Manna Dey sang the song "Poocho Na Kaise Maine" in raga Ahir Bhairav. This song is based on a Bengali composition by Kazi Nazrul Islam, Aruno-kaanti ke go jogi bhikaari, based on raga bhairavi (morning raga)^{[citation needed]}.

Other S D Burman hits from this period were Bandini (1963) and Ziddi (1964). In Bandini, Sampooran Singh (well known as Gulzar), made his debut as a lyricist with the song "Mora Gora Ang lai le, mohe shaam rang daai de", although other songs were written by Shailendra. Guide (1965) starring Dev Anand, was probably the best^{[citation needed]} of his work during the time with all the songs super hit as well as the film; but unfortunately it did not receive the Filmfare award in best music director category for that year, which remained always a discussion among the Bollywood film pandits.

Aradhana (1969) is considered a landmark score in the Bollywood history. The music of the movie shaped the careers of singer Kishore Kumar, lyricist Anand Bakshi, filmmaker Shakti Samanta and R D Burman (associate music director). For the song "Mere Sapno ki raani", Sachin Dev made R.D play the mouth organ^{[citation needed]}.Dev Anand and S D Burman continued their musical partnership in Prem Pujari (1969).

S D Burman was a frank and outspoken man, with a strong sense of self-pride. He openly criticized people whom he disliked or whose abilities he suspected (like the singer Mukesh).^{[citation needed]} But he was widely respected by the industry as a cranky genius.There was a time when Lata Mangeshkar refused to sing duets with Mohammad Rafi due to a dispute arising from sharing of royalty, and it was at the insistence of S. D. Burman, the two decided to reconcile, and again sing duets together.

1970s[link]

Tere Mere Sapne (1971), Sharmilee (1971), Abhimaan (1973), Prem Nagar (1974), Sagina (1974), Chupke Chupke (1975), and Mili (1975) are other classics from this period.

S D Burman went into coma soon after recording the song Badi sooni sooni (sung by Kishore Kumar) for the film Mili. He died on 31 October 1975 in Mumbai Mumbai.

On 1 October 2007, marking his 101st birth anniversary, India postal department released a commemorative postage stamp, in Agartala, where an exhibition on his life and work was also inaugurated; the state government of Tripura, also confers the yearly, 'Sachin Dev Burman Memorial Award' in Music^[16][17]

Cultural references[link]

British singer of South Asian heritage, Najma Akhtar, recorded a Shanachie Records CD of Burman's work, Forbidden Kiss: The Music of S.D. Burman, an album of covers of Burman compositions.

The legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was named after the composer by Sachin's grandfather, who was an ardent fan of Burman.

The singer and mimicry artist Sudesh Bhonsle frequently parodies the nasal high-pitched voice and quixotic singing style of S. D. Burman.

Burman paired with tabla maestro late Brajen Biswas for his Bengali songs. The beats or 'thekas' created by Brajen Babu for these songs are unique and no one in the world can sing these songs in the original 'thekas'. All the thekas are according to the mood of the songs. But recently, painter, sculptor and singer Ramita Bhaduri sang the tough songs of Burman like 'Ami chhinu aka', 'Rangeela', 'Aankhi duti jhare' etc. in the original theka on the taleem of Brajen Biswas. The CD from 'Raga Music' (Symphony) was released at Kolkata Press Club. The CDs are available in M. Biswas & Symphony.

Filmography[link]

• Rajgee (1937)
• Jakher Dhan (1939)
• Jevaan Sangini (1940)
• Protishodh (1941)
• Abhoyer Biye (1942)
• Chaddobeshi (1944)
• Shikari (1945)
• Aath Din (1946)
• Chittor Vijay (1947)
• Dil Ki Rani (1947)
• Do Bhai (1947)
• Vidya (1948)
• Kamal (1949)
• Shabnam (1949)
• Afsar (1950)
• Mashal (1950)
• Pyar (1950)
• Baazi (1951)
• Bahar (1951)
• Buzdil (1951)
• Ek Nazar (1951)
• Naujawan (1951)
• Sazaa (1951)
• Jaal (1952)
• Lal Kunwar (1952)
• Arman (1953)
• Babla (1953)
• Jeevan Jyoti (1953)
• Shahenshah (1953)
• Baaz (1953)
• Angarey (1954)
• Chalis Baba Ek Chor (1954)
• Radha Krishna (1954)
• Taxi Driver (1954)
• Munimji (1955)
• Devdas (1955)
• House No. 44 (1955)
• Madh Bhare Nain (1955)
• Society (1955)
• Funtoosh (1956)
• Miss India (1957)
• Nau Do Gyarah 1957)
• Paying Guest (1957)
• Pyaasa (1957)
• Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
• Kala Pani (1958)
• Solva Saal (1958)
• Lajwanti (1958)
• Sitaron Se Aage (1958)
• Insan Jaag Utha (1959)
• Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
• Sujata (1959)
• Apna Haath Jagannath (1960)
• Bewaqoof (1960)
• Kala Bazar (1960)
• Bambai Ka Babu (1960)
• Ek Ke Baad Ek (1960)
• Manzil (film) (1960)
• Miya Biwi Raazi (1960)
• Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)
• Dr. Vidya (1962)
• Naughty Boy (1962)
• Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963)
• Bandini (1963)
• Meri Surat Teri Ankhen (1963)
• Benazir (1964)
• Kaise Kahun (1964)
• Ziddi (1964)
• Guide (1965)
• Teen Deviyan (1965)
• Jewel Thief (1967)
• Aradhana (1969)
• Talash (1969)
• Jyoti (1969)
• Prem Pujari (1970)
• Ishq Par Zor Nahin (1970)
• Gambler (1971)
• Sharmilee (1971)
• Naya Zamana (1971)
• Tere Mere Sapne (1971)
• Anuraag (1972)
• Ye Gulistan Hamara (1972)
• Zindagi Zindagi (1972)
• Phagun (1973)
• Jugnu (1973)
• Chhupa Rustam (1973)
• Abhimaan (1973)
• Prem Nagar (1974)
• Us Paar (1974)
• Sagina (1974)
• Chupke Chupke (1975)
• Mili (1975)
• Barood (1976)
• Arjun Pandit (1976)
• Deewangi (1976)
• Tyag (1977)

Awards and recognitions[link]

• 1934: Gold Medal, Bengal All India Music Conference, Kolkata 1934
• 1958: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1958: Asia Film Society Award
• National Film Awards
  • 1970: National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer: Aradhana: Safal Hogi Teri Aradhana
  • 1974: National Film Award for Best Music Direction: Zindagi Zindagi
• 1969: Padma Shri
• International Jury on Folk Music
• Filmfare Awards
  • 1954: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Taxi Driver
  • 1973: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Abhimaan
  • 1959: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Sujata: Nomination
  • 1965: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Guide: Nomination
  • 1969: Filmfare Best Music Director Award : Aradhana: Nomination
  • 1970: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Talaash: Nomination
  • 1974: Filmfare Best Music Director Award: Prem Nagar : Nomination
• BFJA Awards
  • 1965: Best Music (Hindi Section): Teen Devian
  • 1966: Best Music (Hindi Section): Guide
  • 1966: Best Male Playback Singer (Hindi Section): Guide
  • 1969: Best Music (Hindi Section): Aradhana
  • 1973: Best Music (Hindi Section): Abhimaan

Notes[link]

[1]

References[link]

• "Sachin Karta", by Pannalal Roy. Parul Prakashani, Agartala. 2005.
• The Hundred Luminaries of Hindi Cinema, by Dinesh Raheja, Jitendra Kothari. India Book House Publishers, 1996. ISBN 81-7508-007-8, page 1919.

External links[link]

• Sachin Dev Burman at the Internet Movie Database
• A website dedicated to Sachin Dev Burman
• Another website dedicated to Sachin Dev Burman
• Best of Sachin Dev Burman compositions
• S. D. Burman songs

Neeraj Gupta is an Indian artist and cartoonist who is known for his exhibition "Sansad Par Hamla" (translates to Attack on Parliament) which opened on the 5th anniversary of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.^[1] The exhibit was not about the terrorist attacks, but rather about Indian politicians who enter parliament for personal gain rather than to help the people of India.

The Vote for India, Mass for Awareness has released an illustrating report on the performance of 15th Lok Sabha 2009–2010 with title "Representative at work" edited by Cartoonist Neeraj Gupta.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official website

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This profile of a cartoonist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Taran Adarsh (born 1965) is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst.^[1] He is also a former producer and screenwriter.^[2] He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh.

Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 as the editor of Trade Guide, a weekly box-office magazine.^[1] In 1994, Adarsh produced and wrote a Bollywood film-based serial Hello Bollywood, starring Shehzad Khan and Kashmira Shah. He continued his work on Trade Guide alongside. He is currently an active film critic, journalist and trade analyst on Bollywood Hungama, a leading Bollywood entertainment website.

In 2007, Adarsh was chosen as the host of a new talk show called B BIZ, on which he provides box office collection reports, and interviews renowned celebrities and film-makers from the industry. Commissioned by Bollywood trade channel ETC, the show aired on 7 May 2007, and has simultaneously been featured on Zee TV and Bollywood Hungama as well.^[3]

Recently Taran started a celebrity chat show on Music India called "Talking Cinema With Taran Adarsh" where he meets the who's who of the Indian Film Industry and discusses latest releases, box office collections and reviews^[4]. www.youtube.com/talkingcinema ; www.facebook.com/musicindiatv Its a half an hour show, six days a week at 8:00pm and 11:00pm on Music India and 8:00pm and 11:30pm on Music India UK.

Filmography[link]

• Hello Bollywood (1994) - Director, producer and writer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Taran Adarsh at the Internet Movie Database

This article about an Indian film director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma in 2007
Born	(1979-12-03) December 3, 1979 (age 32) New Delhi, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2000–present
Spouse	Ranvir Shorey (2010–present)
Children	Haroon Shorey

Konkona Sen Sharma (Kôngkôna Shen Shôrma; born 3 December 1979) is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.

Making her debut as a child artist in the film Indira (1983), Sharma debuted as an adult in the Bengali thriller Ek Je Aachhe Kanya (2000). She first gained attention with the English-language film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), which was directed by her mother, and received the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. Her appearance in the drama Page 3 (2005) got her wider recognition from audiences, and she has since starred in a number of films, most of which have garnered her critical praise rather than commercial success. She won two consecutive Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards for her performances in Omkara (2006) and Life in a... Metro (2007), respectively. Her performance in the former won her a second National Award under the Best Supporting Actress category.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Sen Sharma is the daughter of Mukul Sharma (a science writer and journalist) and Aparna Sen (an actress and film director). She also has an older sibling Kamalini Chatterjee.^[3] Sen Sharma's maternal grandfather, Chidananda Dasgupta, is a film critic, scholar, professor, writer and one of the co-founders of the Calcutta Film Society. Her late grandmother Supriya Dasgupta was a cousin of legendary modern Bengali poet Jibanananda Das.

Sen Sharma has a degree in English from St. Stephen's College, Delhi which she received in 2001. She was a student of the Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta, as well as the Calcutta International School.^[4]

Career[link]

Sen Sharma made her debut as a child artist in the film Indira (1983). In 2000, she made her adult debut in the Bengali film Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, in which she played a negative character. It was followed by a role in Rituparno Ghosh's acclaimed film Titli, opposite Mithun Chakraborty and her mother Aparna Sen.

In 2001, she starred in the English-language film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, directed by Aparna Sen. The film performed well mainly in multiplexes and was a major critical success. Sen Sharma's performance as a Tamil housewife and her mastery of the accent were received well and she was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actress.^[5] Her performance was later included in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" by Filmfare.^[6]

This was followed by the National Film Award-winning social film, Page 3 (2005).^[8] Her role of a smart journalist drew praise and she became a more familiar face to the movie-going public.

Sen Sharma was offered the lead role in Mira Nair's Hollywood film, The Namesake (2007), but owing to clashing dates with other films, she could not commit to the project.^[9] However, she followed it with acclaimed performances as a mentally ill woman in 15 Park Avenue (2005) and as a middle age village woman in Omkara (2006). For the latter, she received both the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her next release Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante (2006) got average reviews. In 2006, Sen Sharma made her directorial debut with an 18-minute Bengali short film titled Naamkoron (Naming Ceremony) for the Kala Ghoda Film Festival.^[10][11]

Following this, Sen Sharma acted in Dosar, a Bengali art film by Rituporno Ghosh which was premiered at several international film festivals. She won the Best Actress award at Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival for her performance.^[12]

Her first release of 2007 was her second collaboration with Madhur Bhandarkar, a noir film named Traffic Signal, in which she played a street prostitute.^[13] Later that year, she appeared in Anurag Basu's Life in a... Metro. The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the Indian box office.^[14] Metro depicted the lives of different individuals in Mumbai, and Sen Sharma's performance as a young and insecure woman earned her a second Filmfare Award.

In late 2007, Sen Sharma acted in two movies under the Yash Raj Films banner. She noted her excitement toward these two projects as these were the first films in which she had to lip-sync for songs. In the first one, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, a drama directed by Pradeep Sarkar, she portrayed the character of a Banaras small town young woman, Chutki, alongside Rani Mukerji. The film was a critical and commercial failure in India, even though her performance was received well. The second one was Aaja Nachle, which was widely promoted as the comeback film of Madhuri Dixit. The film did not do well. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN noted her performance in the film as being "...nothing short of fantastic. Her greatest strength is that she isn't afraid of making a fool of herself and she doesn't worry about being laughed at. As a result, her performance in Aaja Nachle is fearless and uninhibited."^[15]

In 2008, Sen Sharma starred in Dil Kabaddi. She starred in a short film (How Can It Be?) directed by Mira Nair for a movie project called 8, which was screened at several film festivals in 2008 before having a theatrical release.^[16]

In 2009, she appeared in the low-budget English-language film The President Is Coming, directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur. The film opened to generally positive reviews. Reviews were favorably directed toward her. Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India wrote, "Performance-wise, it's the uptight and complex-ridden Ms Konkona who walks away with laurels and laughs even as the film takes a healthy snigger at the desi self."^[17]

Sen Sharma next starred in Zoya Akhtar's Luck by Chance, opposite Farhan Akhtar.^[18] Upon release, the film met with highly positive reviews from critics, as did her performance, but its financial income was modest.^[19][20] Sen Sharma's latest 2009 release was Ayan Mukerjee's romantic comedy Wake Up Sid in which she starred alongside Ranbir Kapoor. Upon release, the film received universally positive reviews,^[21] and her performance received rave reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote, "Konkona is natural to the core and the best part is, she's so effortless. Here's another winning performance from this incredible performer."^[22] The New York Times wrote, "Ms. Sharma has made a specialty of characters like Aisha: independent urban women, whose dreams involve careers as well as love. Her Aisha is a nuanced creation — ambitious, sympathetic, believable — and Mr. Mukerji, making his directing debut, is right to let her run away with the film."^[23]

In 2010, Sen Sharma starred in Ashwani Dheer's comedy Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge opposite Ajay Devgan and Paresh Rawal.^[24] Her latest release was Neeraj Pathak's Right Yaa Wrong where she played a lawyer.

She has completed shooting for Rituparno Ghosh's comedy film Sunglass and Vinay Shukla's Mirch. As of September 2009, Sen Sharma plays the leading role in Aparna Sen's Iti Mrinalini,^[25] which is targeted to release in early 2011.^[26] She will also appear in Amitabh Verma's Jackpot opposite Ranvir Shorey^[27] ,in Suman Mukherjee's adaptation of Shesher Kobita^[28] and Goutam Ghose's Shunyo Awnko.

As of April 2012, Sen Sharma is set to star in Balaji Telefilms' Ek Thi Daayan, to be directed by Vishal Bhardwaj along with Emraan Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin,^[29] where the film itself is inspired by the short story written by her father Mukul Sharma.^[30]

Theatre[link]

In June 2009, Sen Sharma starred onstage first time at Atul Kumar's The Blue Mug alongside Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey and Sheeba Chadha.^[31] In 2010, the play was toured around the nation and abroad.^[32]

Personal life[link]

Konkona Sen Sharma with her husband Ranvir Shorey at the 53rd Annual Filmfare Awards (2008).

Sen Sharma started dating actor and co-star Ranvir Shorey in 2007. The couple got married on 3 September 2010 in a private ceremony.^[33] The Times of India reported that Sen Sharma gave birth to her first child, Haroon, on March 15, 2011 at a South Mumbai hospital.^[34]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

National Film Awards

• 2003: National Film Award for Best Actress, Mr and Mrs Iyer
• 2007: National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, Omkara

Filmfare Awards

• 2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Omkara
• 2008: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Life in a... Metro
• 2008: Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

Zee Cine Awards

• 2006: Zee Cine Award Best Female Debut, Page 3 (Jointly with Vidya Balan)
• 2007: Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Female, for Omkara

IIFA Awards

• 2008: IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award, Life in a... Metro

Other Awards

• 2002: Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards: Best Actress for Ek Je Aachhe Kanya
• 2003: Anandalok Awards: Critics Choice for Mr and Mrs Iyer
• 2005: Kalakar Awards : Best Actress for Page 3.^[39]
• 2007: Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards : Most Outstanding Performance of the Year for 15, Park Avenue
• 2007: Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival: Best Actress for Dosar.^[12]
• 2011: 11th New York Indian Film Festival: Best Actress for Iti Mrinalini^[40]

See also[link]

• List of Indian film actresses
• List of Bengali actresses

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Konkona Sen Sharma

• Konkona Sen Sharma at the Internet Movie Database
• Konkona Sen Sharma on Twitter