Bae of Bengal

RAIMA SEN GETS CHATTY ABOUT HER CAREER UPTURN, LOVE, MARRIAGE AND BETRAYAL AS FARHANA FAROOK LISTENS IN

-  FARHANA FAROOK

She was born purple and looks like it. Royalty in every sense. Granddaughter of Mahanayika Suchitra Sen, daughter of actor Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma, member of the royal family of Tripura... Raima Sen has an exotic lineage. If her vintage beauty—especially the eyes like poetry waiting to be demystified—seems to be a spillover from grandmother Suchitra Sen, her warmth is a carryover from mother Moon Moon, just as is the temperance from father Bharat. To this she adds her own earthiness and élan, as well as a self-confessed ‘wickedness’. An incidental debut with Godmother in 1999 rolled out a resume highlighted by films including Daman, Parineeta, Dus, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., and Bollywood Diaries. Adding heft to her bio is her sojourn in Bengali cinema. Chokher Bali, Dwitiyo Purush, Noukadubi, Baishe Srabon, The Bong Connection, Anuranan, Hrid Majharey (based on the works of William Shakespeare), etc. have marked milestones and memories. Prompting a renaissance is her prolific presence on OTT, beginning with Hello in 2017, with The Last Hour, Mai: A Mother’s Rage, and Roktokorobi being her recent outings. A film she’s excited about now is The Vaccine War, which highlights the groundbreaking vaccines developed by Indian bioscientists against the 2020 pandemic. Her evolution as an actor has collided with her enhancement as a woman. Here, she gives glimpses into her art and heart. Excerpts:

What was the excitement behind doing The Vaccine War?

I’d watched Vivek Agnihotri’s