Suchitra Sen: The Legend and the Enigma

𝙰𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝙺𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚛 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 '𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚍𝚊𝚜'(1955) 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘.𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍𝚢 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐' 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚙𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚊𝚍𝚑𝚢𝚊𝚢'𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 '𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚍𝚊𝚜'.𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚊 𝙰 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚓𝚒 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚜.𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 1950𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚍 1970𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖, 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 - 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛.𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘-𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢'𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚛 - 𝙳𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚋 𝙿𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎!𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍.𝙽𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 60 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚄𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚖 𝙺𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚛. 𝚄𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚖-𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚗-𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛.𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 30-𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚋𝚘𝚡-𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍.𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜.𝙷𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 '𝙼𝚊𝚖𝚝𝚊', '𝙰𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚑𝚒', 𝚊𝚗𝚍 '𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚍𝚊𝚜'. 𝚆𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚊 𝚁𝚎𝚑𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 '𝙺𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚑𝚒' 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚎𝚗'𝚜 '𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝙹𝚎𝚕𝚎 𝙹𝚊𝚊𝚢𝚎'.𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚢𝚊𝚓𝚒𝚝 𝚁𝚊𝚢'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚗.𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚄𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚖 𝙺𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.𝚁𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚏 '𝚂𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚍𝚒' 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚒 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚢.𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚄𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚖 𝙺𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚛, 𝚂𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍.𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎.𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚎𝚞𝚟𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎-𝚞𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙸'𝚖 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎.🎞 🎞 🎞

"Mahanayika" as she is known, Suchitra Sen was my late mother's favourite actress. For me, her films" Dweep Jaley Jai", "Saptapadi", "Devdas" amd "Aandhi" are her best creations. The book is worth a read for those who are her fans.The author has misinformed on Director Asit Sen (see page 133). There were two Asit Sen's in the Indian film world. One was the director of "Dweep Jaley Jai" whose first Hindi film was Mamta (1966). He never worked for Bimal Roy Productions. The other Asit Sen became recognised comedian doing the role of Gopichand Jasoos in "Bees Saal Baad". He worked with Bimal Roy as his directorial assistant. It is he who directed two very unsuccessful films: "Parivar" and "Aparadhi Kaun".

nice

The book picks up a very lively subject full of opportunities to explore the very complex personal of the legendary actor, but all it manages to provide is a long winded, stern and school bookish text. It seems the author is writing an essay or answer to some 30 marks question in her undergraduate literature/ language paper. The book is aimless and spends more time critiquing other writings which directly, indirectly or even extrapolatively relate to the subject. It offers no insight on the person or her craft. It is hardly a biography. In fact it is a reference book on what all has been written on Suchitra Sen. Highly disappointing.

Good

very infornmative

Quite a good book that delves into details and provides interesting information on this subject that I have become fascinated with, esp since wayching 30 or so UK-SS films...

great book . full of information about the legendary actress .