Shobha Sen (17 September 1923 – 13 August 2017) (also known as Sova Sen) was

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 ...

theatre and film actress.Anit Mukerjea (28 June 2004)
"A Woman of Grit"
Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (From The Statesman (India))

Career

After graduating from

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

, she joined Gananatya Sangstha and acted in the lead female role of ''Nabanna''. She joined the Little Theatre Group in 1953-54 which later became People's Theatre Group. Since then she has acted in many productions of the group, chief among them are: ''Barricade'', ''Tiner Taloyar'' and ''Titumir''. She has also worked in some films, including ''

Ek Adhuri Kahani Ek Adhuri Kahani is 1972 Hindi language movie directed by Mrinal Sen, starring Utpal Dutt, Shekhar Chatterjee, Vivek Chatterjee, Aarti Bhattacharya, Shyam and Shobha Sen. It was based on a Bengali story, ''Gotrantar'' by Subodh Ghosh. Referenc ...

''. On 10 April 2010, Sen received the Mother Teresa International Award.Anonymous (9 April 2010)
"Kapil, Wadekar to receive Mother Teresa International Award"
Nerve.in (accessed 14 Jan 2013)

Personal life

Shobha Sen married two times, and had one child by each marriage. Her first husband, Deba Prasad Sen, was a freedom fighter. They had one son, Udayan Sen, before the marriage ended in divorce. In 1960, she married actor and theatre personality

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

, who was six years younger than her. Shobha and

have one daughter, Dr. Bishnupriya Dutt, who is a professor of theatre history in the School of Arts and Aesthetics at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

, New Delhi.

Works

Plays

*''

Nabanna ''Nobanno'' ( bn, নবান্ন, Nobānno; lit: New Feast) is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley. It is a ...

'' (1944) *''

Barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denot ...

'' *'' Tiner Taloyar'' *''

Titumir Syed Mīr Nisār ʿAlī ( bn, সৈয়দ মীর নিসার আলী তিতুমীর; 27 January 1782 – 19 November 1831), better known as Titumir ( bn, তিতুমীর, links=no), was a Bengali freedom fighter, who de ...

'' *''

Kallol ''Kallol'' ( bn, কল্লোল) refers to one of the most influential literary movements in Bengali literature, which can be placed approximately between 1923 and 1935. The name ''Kallol'' of the ''Kallol group'' derives from a magazine of t ...

'' *'' Angar''

Films

*''Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna'', 1955 film by Prafulla ChakrabortySee als
''Bhagaban Sree Sree Ramkrishna''
listing at Gomolo. *''

Adarsha Hindu Hotel ''Adarsha Hindu Hotel'' (''Ideal Hindu Hotel'') is a Bengali novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. The novel was first published in 1940. Plot Hajari Thakur, a middle-aged Bengali Brahmin is the male protagonist of the novel. He works ...

'', 1957 film *''

Khokababur Pratyabartan ''Khokababur Pratyabartan'' (English: ''The Return of Little Master'') is a 1960 Indian Bengali-language social drama film directed by Agradoot based on the 1891 short story of the same name by Rabindranath Tagore. The film starring Uttam Ku ...

'', 1960 film by

Agradoot Agradoot () was a group of Indian film technicians signing collectively as director, a phenomenon unique to Bengali cinema. The Agradoot core unit, formed in 1946, consisted initially of Bibhuti Laha (cameraman, 1915–1997), Jatin Datta (sound) ...

*'' Bedeni'', unfinished film of

Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembe ...

. *''

'', 1972 film directed by

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...

. *''Jharh'', 1979 film directed by

. *''

Thagini ''Thagini'' (The Lady Thug) is a Bengali suspense drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar based on a short story of Subodh Ghosh. This film was released on 13 December 1974 in the banner of ''Chaya O Chabi'' Production. Music of the film was scored ...

'' 1974 film directed by

Tarun Majumdar Tarun Majumdar (or Mazumdar, 22 September 1931 – 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director and Screenwriter who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received four National Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards and an Anandalo ...

*''

Ek Din Pratidin ''Ek Din Pratidin'' (English title: "And Quiet Rolls the Dawn") is a 1979 Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen. The film stars Mamata Shankar, Gita Sen and Sreela Majumdar, among others. It was entered into the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Th ...

'', 1979 film directed by

. *''Baisakhi Megh'', 1981 film directed by

. *''

Paka Dekha ''Paka Dekha'' is a Bengali comedy drama film directed by Arabinda Mukhopadhyay and produced by Mohan Mallick based on a story of Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay in the same name. This film was released in 1980 in the banner of Reba Films. Hemanta Mu ...

'', 1980 film directed by Arabinda Mukherjee. *''

Pasand Apni Apni ''Pasand Apni Apni'' is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Basu Chatterjee, starring Ashok Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Rati Agnihotri, Utpal Dutt. The concept of this movie is based on the 1951 British film ''Happy Go Lovely'', which ...

'', 1983 Hindi film directed by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...

. *''

Dekha ''Dekha'' is a 2001 Bengali drama film directed by Goutam Ghose. This was Ghose's ninth feature film and it was a successful one. At the 48th National Film Awards, the film was awarded Best Feature Film in Bengali, while Soumitra Chatterjee wa ...

'', 2001 film directed by

Gautam Ghose Goutam Ghose (also spelled Gautam Ghosh born 24 July 1950) is an Indian film director, Actor, music director and cinematographer, who works primarily in Bengali cinema. He is the only Indian to have received the "Vittorio Di Sica" Award, Italy ...

. *''

Shadows of Time ''Shadows of Time'' (german: Schatten der Zeit, Bangla: সময়ের প্রতিচ্ছবি) is a 2004 Bengali language German romance film directed by Florian Gallenberger in his directorial debut. Filmed in Calcutta, India, the ...

'', 2004 German film in Bengali directed by

Florian Gallenberger Florian Gallenberger (born 23 February 1972 in Munich) is a German film director and writer. His film '' Quiero ser (I want to be...)'' was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2001. Career Gallenberger appeared in various ...

References

External links

* (as "Sova Sen") {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Shobha Indian theatre directors Bethune College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Indian stage actresses Indian People's Theatre Association people Indian film actresses Bengali Hindus Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Kalakar Awards winners 1923 births 2017 deaths Indian women theatre directors 20th-century Indian actresses People from Faridpur District