Rituparna Sengupta

Rituparna Sengupta is Indian actress and producer who is known for her work in Bengali, Odia and Hindi cinema.

Rituparna was born on 7 November 1970.

She was interested in the arts since a young age and learned painting, dancing, singing and handicrafts at a painting school, called Chitrangshu.

She studied at Carmel High school, and later graduated in history from Lady Brabourne College.

She began studying Modern History for an M.A. at University of Calcutta, but had to interrupt studies to concentrate on her career as an actress.

The film was a remake of Khan Ataur Rahman's Sujon Sokhi (1975).

The film was a major success at the box office.

Initially promoted as the carbon copy of Satabdi Roy, Sengupta made her screen debut opposite Kushal Chakraborty in the Bengali fantasy TV series Shwet Kapot (1989) directed by the latter and broadcast on DD Bangla.

Sengupta made her screen debut opposite Kushal Chakraborty in the Bengali fantasy TV series Shwet Kapot (1989) broadcast on DD Bangla.

Chakraborty's sister Anindita Paul was her classmate.

After her Secondary Examination, she was insisted by Anindita to appear for a screen test for a role opposite Chakraborty in the TV series.

The work was an adaptation of the Danish fairy tale The White Dove.

She had to play an imprisoned princess shapeshifting into a white dove who falls in love with an imprisoned prince played by Chakraborty.

Initially her father made objection against her pursuing the role but then gave his consent since the role demanded two-day shoot.

Due to Chakraborty's stardom, the sitcom grabbed the attention of media personalities.

One of the most successful actresses of Bengali cinema, she rode the crest of her box office success in the late 1990s.

She has won a National Award, two Filmfare Awards, four BFJA Awards and four Anandalok Awards.

In 1990, she accepted a role in Ramen Adhikari's Bengali sitcom Hortoner Golam that featured Kaushik Banerjee as the protagonist.

It is based on Monilal Ganguly's Bengali story of the same name.

In the same year she became a part of Kalpurush, a popular TV series produced by Teleframe.

Based on Samaresh Majumdar's widely acclaimed novel of the same name, the series was directed by Raja Dasgupta.

She made her big screen debut opposite Bijay Mohanty in the Odia film Kotia Manish Gotiye Jaga (1991) directed by Vijay Bhaskar.

Vijay Bhaskar proposed Sengupta to star opposite Bijay Mohanty in his Odia film Kotia Manish Gotiye Jaga (1991).

It manifests conflict based on the political sabotage in Sujanpur.

Mohanty played the protagonist Jagan Das, an aspiring politician who subdues Naga, the powerful MLA of Sujanpur.

She played Radha, the love interest of Jagan.

Her father Prabir Sengupta initially disapproved the film as she was required to enact a bathroom sequence alongside Mohanty.

Later he changed his mind and approved her to accept the role.

She was credited as Chumki in the film.

The film was a box office success.

Throughout her career, she featured in a host of National Award-winning Bengali films such as Shwet Patharer Thala (1992), Lathi (1996), Dahan (1997), Paromitar Ek din, (2000), Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2002) and Anuranan (2006).

After Gargi Roychowdhury declined the role of Titli opposite Bhaskar Banerjee in Prabhat Roy's National Award winning Bengali film Shwet Pathorer Thala (1992), Sengupta was offered to play the character.

She once again collaborated with Bijoy Mohanty in Bhagya Hate Dori (1993).

She made her Bollywood debut with Partho Ghosh's Teesra Kaun (1994).

She featured opposite Prosenjit Chatterjee in Bhijoy Bhaskar's Nag Panchami (1994) and Chiranjeet Chakraborty in Prashanta Nanda's Laal Paan Bibi (1994).

Since both the films worked at the box office, producers and directors approached her with meaty roles opposite Chatterjee and Chakraborty.

Sengupta made her Bollywood debut opposite Chunkey Pandey in Partho Ghosh's thriller Teesra Kaun (1994) which was a debacle at the box office.

Sengupta bagged the female lead in Swapan Saha's Sujan Sakhi (1995) alongside Abhishek Chatterjee essaying the male lead.

She featured opposite Chiranjeet Chakraborty in the latter's directorial venture Sansar Sangram (1995).

The film retaining a highly melodramatic approach appeased the rural audience of West Bengal.