Her beauty did not launch a thousand ships but it certainly made a million hearts flutter whenever Suchitra Sen appeared on screen or was seen by a fortunate few who talked about it was a lifetime experience. Ever since her first hit Share Chuattor, and long after she left her acting career, time has been unable to dim her beauty and her performances even on her 96th birth anniversary today.
Pairing with Uttam Kumar, the duo became a legend in their lifetime. It did not matter that it was an age when the spotlights were mostly on the hero of a film..
An apocryphal story in Bengali filmdom goes that at her insistence her name preceded that of Uttam Kumar in posters and bill boards. And man of the world that he was the Mahanayak as Kumar is dubbed readily agreed instead of standing on his ego.
Incidents of her mixing professionalism with
mood are not few and far between.Sen turned down an offer to star in Debi Choudharani to be directed by Satyajit Ray as she had been asked to cancel other shootings during the duration of the making of this film..
Perfect professional that she was, Sen was loath to let down other film makers who had already cast her. As for refusing a Raj Kapoor film, the mode of the offer was not to the liking of the actress whose taste was a byword in sophistication.
Sen did not come to the limelight overnight. Her footing in Bengali films was initially unsteady.
Directors were hesitant to cast her. It was a commonality she shared with her favourite co-star , Uttam Kumar.
Their stars rose in Sare Chuattor, a benchmark among hilarious Bengali films. Working as a lead pair in a string of hits, among which Agnipariksha, Saptapadi, Shapmochan and Grihadaha to name a few deserve special mention..
An epitome of beauty, grace and mystery, Sen never portrayed a loud performance. It was a restraint which directors appreciated and her leading .men were in awe of.
Be it ,”tragedy king’ Dilip Kumar pitted opposite her in the title role of Devdas or a stylized Dev Anand in frothy Bambai Ka Babu or Soumitra Chatterjee in Saat Paake Bandha, one and all were on their toes opposite her in front of the camera and off it. Suchitra did not invite familiarity.
Formal in her interaction with her co-stars off screen, Sen put in her heart and soul in her screen performances. It made her characters look
real life.
The audience adored her performances. The characters she essayed became iconic; be it an Anglo-Indian girl in Saptapadi, a cabaret dancer in ,Fariad or a child bride in Agnipariksha, all are talked about to this day..
Hers were benchmark performances. Small wonder, producers do not show much interest in investing in remakes of her films.
Her performances in Bhagban Srikrishna Chaitanya made her a darling of an elder generation. It is a pointer to the range of her acting
Two other films Deep Jwele Jai opposite Ashok Kumar and Aandhi costarring Sanjeev Kumar tell tales of her class. Other leading actresses had refused to star in Aandhi which they considered “politically risky”.
But in this film directed by Gulzar, Sen essayed the role of an aging politician with such aplomb that it went to become a runaway hit. If her previous performances were pointers to her acting brilliance, choosing to star in Aandhi gives an indication of her strength of character.
Its screening in the theatres ran into trouble as culture police of infamous Emergency thought it to be a take on Indira Gandhi.it only added to the popularity of the film.
Sen never put on the grease paint after Pronoy Pasha flopped. She cut herself off from the world of glamour.
Except for family members and close associates, all others were unwelcome. Devotees at Belur Matt occasionally caught glimpses of her when she dropped in.
Often compared to Greta Garbo, Sen too prized her solitude. Shunning a public appearance, she refused after being offered Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest prize for her line of performance.
Suchitra Sen’s legacy cannot be measured by the duration. of her career. It lingers quietly but steadfastly in the hearts of fans whose tribe increases after every telecsst of her one of her films.
She remains an eternal enigma. Sen will continue to shine till films are screened and telecast.
