Bengali cinema refers to the filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India (Indian cinema) and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Bangladeshi cinema).

The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata. Within a decade, the first seeds of the industry was sown by Hiralal Sen, considered a stalwart of Victorian era cinema when he set up the Royal Bioscope Company, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows at the Star Theatre, Minerva Theatre, Classic Theatre. Following a long gap after Sen's works,Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (Known as D.G) established Indo British Film Co, the first Bengali owned production company, in 1918. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatre production of Jamai Shashthi (1931), under Amar Chauduri's direction was the first Bengali talkie A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the movie history.

Abir Chatterjee (Bengali: আবীর চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (born 18 November 1980) is a popular Bengali film and television actor.He is the son of noted theater personalities Phalguni and Rumki Chatterjee. His father was one of the founders to noted theater group LOKKRISHTI. He started his career with Bengali television and made his debut in Bengali movie in 2009 as a lead with Cross Connection. Before joining television and films he completed his Bachelors from Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration,Calcutta and MBA in finance from ICFAI Business School.

He has acted in many Bengali serials including popular ones like Proloy..asche in Sananda TV,Shomoy in Ruposhi Bangla,Shasuri Zindabad and Khuje Berai Kacher Manush in Zee Bangla, Banhiskikha, Sudhu Tomari Jonno in ETV Bangla, Ek Aakasher Niche, Janmobhumi and many more.

Raima Sen (Bengali: রাইমা সেন; born Raima Dev Varma on 11 November 1979) is an Indian film actress.

She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, whose younger sister Gayatri Devi was the Maharani of Jaipur. Her paternal great-grandmother Indira was the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda. Raima's maternal great-grandfather Adinath Sen was a prominent Kolkata businessman, whose father Dinanath Sen - a relative of former Union Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen- was the Diwan or a Minister of the Maharaja of Tripura. The sisters are credited on-screen under their mother's maiden name, although their official papers carry the surname Dev Varma.

Sen made her debut in the film Godmother, which was a critically acclaimed success, but her minor role may have been overlooked in favour of the protagonist, played by Shabana Azmi. She then starred in the film Daman playing Raveena Tandon's daughter, where her small performance was appreciated.

Moushumi Chatterjee (26 April 1953; Bengali: মৌসুমি চ্যাটার্জী; Moushumi Chāţārjī) is a Bollywood actress, who has also acted in Bengali cinema. She worked with actors like Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra and Vinod Mehra.

Chatterjee was born in Calcutta. Her father Prantosh Chattopadhyaya was in the Army. She had a sister and a brother. Her grandfather was a judge. She is married to Jayant Mukherjee (son of Hemant Kumar). They have two daughters, Payal and Megha. She started to act in Bollywood movies after her marriage, which was quite unusual for women during that time.

Moushumi Chatterjee was never considered to have conventional beauty, yet she was considered one of the most beautiful faces to hit the Hindi screen in the 1970s. She made her film debut in the Bengali hit, Balika Badhu (1969) directed by Tarun Majumdar. Her debut as heroine in the Hindi film Anuraag (1973) came courtesy of another famous Bengali director, Shakti Samanta. She played a blind girl who falls in love, and her performance earned her a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. The film won the Filmfare Award as Best Picture. That led to another huge hit film, where played a rape survivor in Manoj Kumar's Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974). Her rape sequence in the film is still considered to be one of the most disturbing scenes in Hindi cinema. Her performance earned her a Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress. That led to more starring roles opposite superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the thriller Benaam (1974) and Basu Chatterjee's film Manzil (1979). She did more Hindi and Bengali hit films and, by the 1980s, she made the transition to character roles of mother and bhabhi (sister-in-law).

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.