| | 7 | Bengali actress, director and musician born in Barisal (now Bangladesh). Studied music at Shantiniketan, and acted as a child aged 6 in several Tagore plays directed by the poet himself (Dakghar, Mayar Khela, Tasher Desh et al.). Promising singer of the Rabindra Sangeet, trained by Sailajaranjan Majumdar; also featured in the stage production of Tagore’s Balmiki Pratibha (1943). Film début as actress in Kartick Chattopadhyay’s travelogue Mahaprasthaner Pathey/Yatrik. As an actress, her poised self-assertiveness was often used to exemplify the ‘strong-willed’ characteristics of e.g. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘nobina’ or ‘new woman’, e.g. playing the hero’s wife in Jotugriha. Best- known screen role: Bhagini Nivedita, a nationalist biopic about Sister Nivedita. The film used the actress’s bhadralok image to convert its subject into a chaste Hinduised martyr. Turned director with Chhuti; directed, scripted and scored films from well-known literary works. Her last film, Gokul was a TV featurette. Became an independent producer with her Anindiya Chitra (1969). Later married Tapan Sinha and acted in several of his films, e.g. Kshudista Pashan, Jhinder Bandi and Jotugriha; also costume designer for Sinha’s Adalat-o-Ekti Meye. |