Seema Biswas (born 14 January 1965) is an Indian actress who works 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 ...

films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of

Phoolan Devi Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...

in Shekhar Kapur's film '' Bandit Queen'' (1994), for which she won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wit ...

. She won the 2000

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

and the 2006 Best Actress

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

for her role as Shakuntala in Deepa Mehta's ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'' (2005). Her other mainstream films include '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' (1996), for which she won the

Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress The Screen Award for Best Actress is one of the Screen Awards of merit presented annually by a distinguished panel of judges from the Indian "Bollywood" film industry, to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a Su ...

, ''Bhoot'' (2003), ''

Vivah ''Vivah'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao in the lead roles. The movie was produced and distributed by Rajshri Productions. ''Vivah' ...

'' (2006) and ''Half Girlfriend'' (2017). In addition to films, Biswas has appeared in many television shows.

Personal life and education

Biswas was born in

Nalbari Nalbari (Pron: nɔ:lˈbɑ:rɪ) is a town and a municipal board in Nalbari district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam. Nalbari town is also the headquarters of Nalbari district, Nalbari District. The town is one of ma ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, to Jagdish Biswas and Meera Biswas. After completing her primary education, she graduated in political science with honours from

Nalbari College Nalbari College is in Nalbari, Assam, India. It was founded in 1945. The college is affiliated to Gauhati University and recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC). Since its inception, the institution imparts higher education to the e ...

, Assam. She studied dramatic arts at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Career

Biswas played the lead in Krishnan Kartha's ''Amshini'' (Hindi), it entered the Indian Panorama Section of Filmotsav 1988. However, the general belief is that she debuted after Shekhar Kapur watched her perform in the NSD Repertory Company and offered her a role in ''Bandit Queen''. Although she had earlier acted in

Assamese cinema Assamese cinema, also known as Jollywood, is an Indian film industry of Assamese-language motion pictures. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie '' Joymoti''. Since then the A ...

, this was her first big break into Hindi cinema. In 1996, she played the role of Flavy, a deaf and mute woman in

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (; born 24 February 1963) is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfar ...

's '' Khamoshi: The Musical'' opposite

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest a ...

and won the

. Rooted firmly in theatre, she refuses to be typecast, and has worked in a variety of films and character roles. She has also worked in Marathi, Malayalam and Tamil films. Some of her Marathi films are ''Bindhast'', ''Dhyaas Parwa'' and ''Lalbaug-Parel''. She has been honoured with the Life Membership of International Film And Television Club of

Asian Academy Of Film & Television Noida Film City houses the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Marwah Films & Video Studios along with prominent news channels from India. It is located in Sector 16-A Noida, India. It was founded in 1988 by Sandeep Marwah, an Indian film pro ...

by the director Sandeep Marwah. In 2014, Biswas was a jury member of the 45th International Film Festival of India, held from 20 to 30 November at Goa.

Filmography

Films

Television

Web series

Awards

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Seema Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Living people Indian film actresses National School of Drama alumni Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners People from Nalbari district People from Nalbari Bengali actresses 1965 births 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Best Actress National Film Award winners Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Assamese cinema Actresses from Assam Actresses in Hindi television Actresses in Punjabi cinema Actresses in Gujarati cinema Actresses in Konkani cinema Actresses in Bhojpuri cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema