Look up Bengali, bengalese, or bengali in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bengali may refer to:

• Bengali people, a major linguistic group in South Asia
• Bengali Hindus, the ethnic group native to eastern India
• Bengali language, the Indo-Aryan language native to Bengal
• Bengali alphabet, the script used to write Bengali, and a variant of Assamese

Other [link]

• Bengali (ThunderCats), a fictional character from the animated television show ThunderCats
• Bengal (cat), the hybrid cat breed, also called Bengali Cat
• Bangalla, a fictional country in The Phantom (miniseries)
• Bengalee (ship)

See also [link]

• Culture of Bengal
• All pages starting with Bengali

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Moon Moon Sen
Born	Moon Moon Sen (1948-03-28) March 28, 1948 (age 64) Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Spouse	Bharat Dev Varma(1978-present)
Children	Raima Sen Riya Sen
Parents	Dibanath Sen Suchitra Sen

Moon Moon Sen (also credited as Moonmoon Sen) (Bengali: মুনমুন সেন born 28 March 1948) is an Indian film actress. She did movies in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada films. Sen is part of a three generational family of actors and was a staple of the Bengali film industry, starring in many hit films. She eventually starred in Bollywood films, which she was not as successful as the Bengali film industry. She has appeared in 60 films and 40 TV serials. Her performance in the Telugu film Sirivennela directed by K.Vishwanath is possibly her best performance.

Early life[link]

Moon Moon Sen was born into a Bengali family in Calcutta to popular Bengali actress Suchitra Sen and Dibanath Sen. Her father, of Ballygunge Place, was the son of one of the wealthiest businessmen of Calcutta, Adinath Sen. Her great grandfather Dinanath Sen was the Diwan or a Minister of the Maharaja of Tripura.

She was educated at Loreto Convent, Darjeeling and at Loreto House, Calcutta, then in a school in England and after coming back, she graduated from Loreto College, Calcutta. She received her masters in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.^[1]

As a child, Sen learnt drawing from Jamini Roy, one of India's greatest artists.^[2] She loves paintings and collecting antiques. In an interview in 2000, she said she taught at Ballygunge Girls' School for a year^[3] and then taught graphics at Chitrabani, a school teaching film techniques. She was also active in social work and even thought about adopting a baby, even before she was married.^[1] Sen taught English at a well known Boys' school (Ballygunge Govt. High School) in Kolkata before joining films.

Acting career[link]

Moon Moon Sen started her career in films and television after marriage and motherhood. She made her debut in Andar Baahar (1984).[1] Her daring role in that film apparently created a storm of controversy.

After Zakhmi Dil (1994) she did not appear in films until 2003 when she starred in an unsuccessful thriller Kucch To Hai. At no point, she could match success of her her mother, who was Bengali film's leading actress for nearly two decades.

Before and after entering the film industry, she appeared alone (or with her daughters) in some modelling assignments. She notably modeled for soap ads [2] which were quite controversial in the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} Apart from doing some television serials, she also did couple of Bengali tele-films.

Sen said she would bare all even at 70.

"Age is not important, the attitude is. Sophia is the ultimate glam girl who can manage to look beautiful in such a picture even now. But yes, India too has beautiful women like Rekha and Hema Malini who can carry such a thing out with aplomb. In fact, I wouldn't mind myself if the shoot is done aesthetically and with taste."^[4]

She is now doing a few films at a time, such as a film in 2000 with younger daughter Riya.[3] She is also apparently writing a cookbook in Bengali, which is yet to be published. Most recently, she has made occasional appearances, or with her family, also in the Page Three sections of Indian newspapers, usually at polo events or film-related events, and promote new restaurants.

Personal life[link]

Moon Moon Sen married in 1978, to a descendant of the royal family of Tripura state. They have two daughters, actresses Raima Sen and Riya Sen. She has high regard for her husband, for his consistent support of her professional acting career.^[3]

Her late mother-in-law, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, and elder sister of Gayatri Devi, the Maharani of Jaipur.

Awards[link]

Sen received awards such as the Nandi State Award, the Kalakendra Screen Award and the Bharat Nirman Award.

Filmography[link]

Bengali[link]

• Baidurya Rahasya
• Rajbadhu
• Byabodhan
• Tumi Kato Sundar
• Gajamukuta (1991)
• Anjali
• Ajantay
• Mahashay
• Rajshwari
• Apon Ghorey
• Sopan (1994)
• Tumi Kato Sundar
• Pujarini
• Neel Nirjane
• My Karma
• Boi Durjo Raw Hossho
• Anterale—Chironjeet

Bollywood[link]

• Chorus (1974)
• Andar Baahar (1984) ... Reema
• Musafir (1986)
• Mohabbat Ki Kasam (1986) .... Radha
• Jaal (1986)
• Sheesha (1986) ... Manisha Prakash
• Pyaar Ki Jeet (1987) ... Rani sahiba
• Majnu (1987)
• Amar Kantak (1987)
• Maashuka (1987)
• Woh Phir Aayegi (1988)
• Be Lagaam (1988)
• Mil Gayee Manzil Mujhe (1989)
• Tere Bina Kya Jeena (1989)
• Ek Din Achanak (1989)
• Apna Desh Paraye Log (1989)
• Pathar Ke Insan (1990) ... Dancer
• Lekin... (1991) ... Pammi
• Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990)
• Bahaar Aane Tak (1990) ... Renu
• 100 Days (1991) ... Rama
• Iraada (1991)
• Vishkanya (1991) ... Mrs. Sonal Vikram Singh
• Waqt Ka Badshah (1992)
• Hirer Angti (1992)
• Zakhmi Rooh (1993) ... Seema/Reema
• Zakhmi Dil (1994) ... Mala
• Kucch To Hai (2003) ... Madam Sexena
• Nil Nirjane (2003)
• Love at Times Square (2003) ... Sweety's mother
• Taj Mahal: A Monument of Love (2003)
• My Karma (2004) ... Mrs. Mullik
• It Was Raining That Night (2005)
• Bow Barracks Forever (2007) ... Rosi

Tamil[link]

• 12B (2001) as Jo's Mom

Malayalam[link]

• Aval Kathirunnu Avanum

Telugu[link]

• Majnu
• Sirivennela

Kannada[link]

• Yuga Purusha

References[link]

External links[link]

Moon Moon Sen at the Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Moon Moon Sen

Further reading[link]

• Shoma A. Chatterjee. "Moon Moon Sen: Back in the Spotlight", Screen (part of the Indian Express group), 24 November 2000. An article based on an interview with Moon Moon Sen, discussing her career and her private life.

Aparna Sen অপর্ণা সেন
Aparna Sen in 2010
Born	Aparna (1945-10-25) 25 October 1945 (age 66) Calcutta, India
Occupation	actor, film director, screenwriter
Awards	Cinemanila Film Festival - Best Film 1982 36 Chowringhee Lane Cinemanila Film Festival - Best Screenplay 2003 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Mumbai International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Prize 2000 Paromitar Ek Din Karlovy Vary Film Festival - Ecumenical Jury Award 2000 Paromitar Ek Din Hawaii Film Festival - Best Feature Film 2002 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Locarno Film Festival - Netpac Award 2003 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Locarno Film Festival - Youth Jury Award 2003 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Philadelphia Film Festival - Best Feature 2003 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

Aparna Sen (née Dasgupta) (Bengali: অপর্ণা সেন Ôporna Shen; born 25 October 1945) is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.

Biography[link]

Aparna Sen was born in Calcutta to a Bengali family, originally from East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Her father is the veteran critic and film-maker Chidananda Dasgupta. Her mother Supriya Dasgupta is the cousin of renowned Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. She spent her childhood in Hazaribagh and Kolkata and had her schooling initially in South Point and later mostly in Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata.

She studied her B.A. English honors in Presidency College..

She met the Magnum photographer, Brian Brake, in Kolkata in 1961 when he was visiting India to photograph his Monsoon series. Brake used Sen as the model for what was to become one of his most well known photographs — a shot of a girl holding her face to the first drops of monsoon rain. The photo shoot was set up on a Kolkata rooftop with a ladder and a watering can. Sen described the shoot:

He took me up to the terrace, had me wear a red sari in the way a village girl does, and asked me to wear a green stud in my nose. To be helpful, I said let me wear a red one to match, and he said no — he was so decisive, rather brusque — I think a green one. It was stuck to my nose with glue, because my nose wasn't pierced. Someone had a large watering can, and they poured water over me. It was really a very simple affair. It took maybe half an hour.^[1]

Acting career[link]

Sen made her film debut at the age of 16, 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 long time friend of her father's). She then studied at Kolkata's Presidency College.

Later in life she would work with Satyajit Ray in several of his films, including the short Pikoo (1981) where she played the role of an adulterous wife and mother.

In 1965, Sen resumed her film career in Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum which was later remade into a Hindi film Manzil starring Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee.Later she also brought out the different nuances of a widow in Mrinal Sen's Mahaprithibi'. From then until the end of the 1970s, she worked steadily in the Bengali film industry, as leading heroine of the time. She acted in a number of Hindi films as well during this time including Imaan Dharam (1977) with Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar and Rekha. Aparna Sen was equally successful in the mainstream Bengali films.Her chemistry both with Soumitra Chatterjee in films such as Basanta Bilap, Baksa Badal, Chutir Fande were loved as much as her films with Uttam Kumar in Joy Jayanti, Alor Thikana etc.

In 1969, Sen appeared in The Guru, an English-language feature by Merchant Ivory Productions. She would make two more films with Merchant-Ivory, Bombay Talkie (1970), and Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978).

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.^[2]

Aparna as director[link]

In 1981, Sen made her debut as a film director with 36 Chowringhee Lane. She also wrote its screenplay. The film, about an aged Anglo-Indian teacher living in Calcutta, won positive reviews from critics. For her debut feature, Sen won the Best Director award at the Indian National Film Awards. 36 Chowringhee Lane also won the Grand Prix (the Golden Eagle) at the Manila International Film Festival.

She followed up this early success with several other films, notably Paroma (1984), Sati (1989) and Yugant (1995). These examined the feminine condition in modern-day India from different perspectives. She also starred in Unishe April (1994), the film by Bengali cinema's Rituparno Ghosh.

Sen's next directorial effort Paromitar Ek Din (2000) was a critical hit and recalled the success of her first film. The film explored the relationship between a divorced woman (Rituparna Sengupta) and her mother-in-law, played by Aparna herself. It won a number of awards on the international festival circuit.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), was a love story set against the harsh backdrop of Hindu-Muslim sectarian violence in India. The film won a National Film Award for Sen's direction, and an acting award for Konkona Sen Sharma, the director's daughter. The film won more awards at the Locarno, Hawaii and Manila film festivals.

15, Park Avenue (2005) starred her daughter and the actors Shabana Azmi, Dhritiman Chaterji, Waheeda Rehman, Rahul Bose and Soumitra Chatterjee. The film deals with a girl (Konkona Sen Sharma) who is a schizophrenic and her relations with her elder stepsister, played by Shabana Azmi.

Her next film named The Japanese Wife (2010), stars Raima Sen, Rahul Bose and Chigusa Takaku. This film focuses on two women and is based on a short story by West Bengal author Kunal Basu.

Aparna has made selective films and in the last three decades of her career, she has made only nine films.

In 2009, Sen announced her next Bengali film Iti Mrinalini, which stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen, Rajat Kapoor, Koushik Sen, and Priyanshu Chatterjee. Sen's last Bengali film was Paromitar Ek Din (2000). First-time screenwriter Ranjan Ghosh has co-authored Iti Mrinalini. This was the first time that Aparna 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.^[3] It was also a major first in Indian screenwriting whence any screenplay from any Indian film institute was actually filmed.^[4] The film is released on July 29, 2011.

Personal life[link]

Sen has been married thrice. Her first marriage, to Sanjay Sen, was when she was quite young. Her second husband was the science writer and journalist, Mukul Sharma. They later divorced amicably. Sen is presently married to Kalyan Ray, an author and professor of English who teaches at County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey, in the United States. She has two daughters, Kamalini and Konkona—who is also an actress—and two grandchildren.

Other achievements[link]

In 2008, Sen was elected into the International Jury of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The highly credentialed Jury, headed by a president of international distinction, determine winners from all nominations in each award category.

From 1986 to 2005, Sen was 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 1986, the then-President of India bestowed the Padma Shri to Sen in recognition of her contribution to Indian cinema. Since then, she has received several lifetime achievement awards, and served on juries at film festivals around the world.

Filmography[link]

Actress[link]

Writer/director[link]

Further reading[link]

• Parama and other outsiders: the cinema of Aparna Sen, by Shoma A. Chatterji. Parumita Publications, 2002. ISBN 8187867035.
• Aparna Sen calls the shots (Women in Indian film), by Rajashri Dasgupta. Zubaan, 2009.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Aparna Sen at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Aparna Sen
• Profile at calcuttaweb.com
• MyBindi.com interview
• Rediff interview, 2002
• Rediff profile, 1999
• Rediff interview, 1998