The star who became an indie film pioneer

Aparna Sen appeared in parallel or art films while having a remarkable presence in commercial Bengali cinema

- Devapriya Sanyal

In 1961, exactly 20 years prior to her directorial debut with 36 Chowringhee Lane, the world was introduced to Aparna Sen, née Dasgupta, the daughter of eminent film critic Chidananda Dasgupta, as the young Mrinmoyee of Samapti, a part of Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (1961).

Sen says that this was in keeping with the fact that she had always wanted to be an actor, and her parents indulged her dreams and even promised to send her abroad to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.

In 1969, she returned in a brief role in Ray's cinema to play Samit Bhanja's love interest in Aranyer Din Ratri. While her career as an actor was not exactly stellar to begin with, very soon she went on to become one of the most popular actresses of Bengali cinema.

Her pairing with some of the top male stars of the industry, such as Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, lent a certain sheen and appeal to her films and made her an extremely popular star in turn.

Bhranti Bilas (1963), Baksa Badal (1970) and Jay Jayanti (1970) continue to remain some of her most popular films.

Even as an actress, she played the roles of educated, working and empowered women, so it really does not come as a surprise that the women in the cinema which she would go on to create would be superior creatures compared to the men therein.

While she does not like to talk about her career as an actress, it is worthwhile to probe her career as one.