Ruma Guha Thakurta (21 November 1934 – 3 June 2019) was an Indian actress and singer primarily associated with

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

language films. She founded

Calcutta Youth Choir Calcutta Youth Choir () was set up in 1958 by Ruma Guha Thakurta with Salil Chowdhury and Satyajit Ray. Calcutta Youth Choir is known for their performance of folk and mass songs. Several years ago, the choir broke out with the song 'Aaj joto j ...

in 1958.

Early life

Ruma Guha Thakurta was born on 3 November 1934 to Satyen Ghosh (Monty Ghosh) and singer Sati Devi. Her family was culturally inclined to

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of th ...

, a societal component of

Brahmoism Brahmoism is a religious movement which originated from the mid-19th century Bengali Renaissance, the nascent Indian independence movement. Adherents, known as ''Brahmos'' (singular Brahmo), are mainly of Indian or Bangladeshi origin or natio ...

. Sati was a trained vocalist and a niece of

Bijoya Ray Bijoya Ray ('' née'' Das; 27 October 1917 – 2 June 2015) was the wife of the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Their son Sandip Ray is also a film director. Bijoya and Satyajit were first cousins. Bijoya's father was the eldest half brother of ...

, the wife of

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

. Ruma Guha Thakurta began as a dancer. Later, she went to Almora Academy of

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

to study dance. She started training in music at Swarabitan in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, which had been established by her parents. In later years, she studied under Abdul Rehman Khan of

Patiala gharana The Patiala ''gharana'' (, ) is one of the vocal (tradition, school, or style of music) of Hindustani classical music, named after the city of Patiala in Punjab, India where it was established. The ''gharana'' was founded in the mid to late 19th ...

, the

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...

of Nirmla Devi and

Lakshmi Shankar Lakshmi Shankar (née Sastri, 16 June 1926 – 30 December 2013) was an Indian singer and a noted Hindustani classical. Born into a south Indian Brahmin family, she became an outstanding Hindustani vocalist of the Patiala Gharana and married R ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. She married

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

in 1951 and had a son

Amit Kumar Amit Kumar (born 3 July 1952) is an Indian playback singer, actor, music composer. Kumar launched his own music production company, named Kumar Brothers Music. He predominantly worked in Bollywood and regional film songs since the 1970s, inc ...

by this marriage. The couple divorced in 1958 and she married Arup Guha Thakurta in 1960. The couple had two children, Ayan and Sromona. Sromona is also a singer.

Career

Guha Thakurta made her acting debut in Amiya Chakravarty's '' Jwar Bhata'' (1944) at age ten. This was the debut film of

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

. Her next film as Ruma Ghosh was

Nitin Bose Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he worked with New Theatre ...

, whose first cousin was her aunt's father-in-law,'s ''Mashaal'' (1950) in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, which had a

version called ''Samar'', adapted from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel ''Rajani''. She portrayed a blind girl, Sarla. After her divorce, Ruma moved to Calcutta to act in

Rajen Tarafdar Rajen Tarafdar (7 July 1917 – 23 November 1987) was an Indian film director, actor, and screenwriter. He was the recipient of two National Awards and two BFJA Awards. He graduated from the Government College of Art & Craft in Calcutta in ...

’s ''Ganga'' based on Samaresh Bose’s eponymous cult novel. She acted as one of two leading ladies, with

Sandhya Roy Sandhya Roy is an Indian actress and politician. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She is the recipient of BFJA Award for three times, and one Filmfare Awards East best actress for '' Ganadevata''. Roy made her cinematic debut with ...

. ''Ganga'' won the National award for Best Feature Film that year and Ruma's portrayal of Himi received critical acclamation. In the same year, she acted in ''Personal Assistant'' opposite to Bhanu Bandopadhayay and in ''Khaniker Atithi'' by Tapan Sinha. Her film career revived in 1962 with ''Benarasi,'' produced by her and directed by her husband. It was the tale of a courtesan who tries to lead a life of dignity and respect, when her childhood sweetheart, Ratan, takes her away from her terrible environment. It flopped, but won the BFJA Award for Best Feature Film the following year.

Filmography

As an actress

As a playback singer

Awards

BFJA Awards Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

(1964) for Best Actress in supporting role –

Palatak '' Palatak'' is a 1963 Bengali film directed by Jatrik. The film features actors Anup Kumar, Sandhya Roy and Ruma Guha Thakurta in the lead roles. The film was based on ''Angti Chattujjer Vai'', a Bengali short story of Manoj Basu. Shyamsu ...

IFFI Best Actor Award (Female) The IFFI Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Silver Peacock for the Best Actor Award (Female)) is an honor presented annually at the International Film Festival of India since 2010 to an actress for the best performance in a leading ...

(1965) for "

Nirjan Saikate ''Nirjan Saikate'' ( bn, নির্জন সৈকতে) (English subtitle: The Desolate Beach) is a Bengali language, Bengali film directed by Tapan Sinha. It was released in 1963. This movie is an adaptation of the novel by the same name ...

" at 3rd IFFI

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thakurta, Ruma Guha 2019 deaths Bengali actresses Actresses in Bengali cinema Bengali singers Brahmos People associated with Santiniketan Indian film actresses Actresses from Kolkata 20th-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Women musicians from West Bengal Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian women playback singers Bengali playback singers Singers from Kolkata 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian actresses 1934 births