Suchitra Sen set a trend others struggle to follow
In one what is possibly their most memorable song together, Uttam Kumar's Krishnendu and Suchitra Sen's Rina Brown ask each other: “Ei poth jodi na shesh hoye, tobey kemon hotho tumi bolo tohIJ” (If this road never ended, how would be it beIJ) In some sense, Suchitra Sen's journey in this world ended on Friday morning, more than three decades after Uttam Kumar passed away. Yet, much like Tollygunge's mahanayak continues to hold sway over the hearts of thousands of Bengalis, including many who came of age decades after his last film released, Suchitra Sen too will remain an integral part of the Bengali consciousness, though the last time she was seen on celluloid was almost four decades ago.
For those unfamiliar with the golden age of Bengali cinema, it may seem odd that an obituary for Sen starts with Kumar. But others will know that it is not possible to discuss one without the other. If Uttam Kumar epitomised the Bengali bhadrolok, Suchitra Sen was the daan-kaata pori (wings-clipped fairy) who personified beauty, dignity and grace. Together, the Uttam-Suchitra pair was not just a successful onscreen jodi, it shaped an entire community's cultural mindscape, and emerged as a motif for the quintessential Bengali.
Suchitra Sen was one of the earliest actors of her generation to carve a niche for herself. Though there were successful Bengali female actors before her, like Kanan Devi, no one had made their presence felt the way she did. Indeed, Suchitra Sen was very much a trail-blazer. She had already been married five years and had a school-going daughter when she faced the arc-lights for the first time in 1952 for Shesh Kothay. The film never released but Sharey Chuattor, which came the year after, propelled her to stardom. Between 1953 and 1978, she starred in more than 50 films, almost 30 of which were opposite Uttam Kumar. But despite the tremendous success that she earned in the latter, Sen took care to portray characters that were more than just the love interest of the male lead. Many of her films would today be described as ‘women-centric' — for instance, Dweep Jele Jai (1959) saw her in the role of a psychiatric nurse who gets involved with one of her patients. Her performance in this film won her the Best Actress Award at the Moscow Film Festival, making Sen the first Indian woman actor to win an international award. later, she broke ground when she ventured into the Hindi film industry and starred in half-a-dozen productions, most popularly Aandhi (1975), that was loosely based on the life of Indira Gandhi. Throughout her career, Sen ignored every rule of the film industry and performed on her own terms — from starting out as a married actor to turning down big banners (RK) and bigger directors (Satyajit Ray) and finally moving away from it all, never to return to public life, not even to accept the Dadasaheb Phalke award. Suchitra Sen was the original Bengali feminist, much before it became fashionable to be one.