It's All In The Genes

In 1961, the Bengali film industry introduced Aparna Sen (then Dasgupta) through master film maker Satyajit Ray's classic, Teen Kanya. The debutant, was at that point of time, sixteen years and was quite an appropriate choice for theplaying the character of Mrinmoyee which she played to perfection.

Aparna Sen(DOB: October 25th, 1945) was born in Calcutta to a culturally progressive Bengali family. Her father, Chidananda Dasgupta, was a well recognized film maker and film critic and her mother, Supriya Dasgupta, was the cousin of renowned Bengali poet, Jibanananda Das.

After completing her graduation from the prestigious Presidency College in Calcutta, Aparna Sen resumed her film career in 1965 with Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum. From 1965 till the end of 1970s, Aparna Sen enacted myriad of characters in Bengali, English and in few Hindi films.

It was the quest of achieving something substantial beyond her acting career that stimulated Aparna Sen to take up direction. With the English film, 36 Chowringhee Lane, Sen proved her potential as a promising, progressive and thinking director. Her debut as a director fetched her the National Award for the Best Director. The film also bagged some prestigious international awards. Aparna Sen followed her initial success with Bengali films like Paroma,Sati, Yugant and Paromitar Ek Din.

Meanwhile, in the 1980s, Aparna Sen began her successful career as an Editor of the Bengali women's magazine, Sananda(an Ananda Bazar Patrika publication). In 1986, the President of India awarded Aparna Sen the prestigious Padma Shri in recognition of her contribution to cinema.

Aparna Sen's second daughter, Konkona Sen Sharma(her father, Mukul Sharma, whom Aparna Sen married in 1976 after the death of her first husband, Sanjoy Sen) has many traits in her which are quite similar to that of Aparna Sen.

Konkona did her graduation in English Honours from St. Stephen's Collge , Delhi before joining films. Of course as a kid, she acted in some films which Aparna Sen directed, one of them being Picnic, a short film featuring Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh.

Konkona's debut as an actress was with the Bengali film, Ek Je Aache Konya, which was a big hit and it firmly established Konkona as a force to reckon with in the film industry. Her next film was Rituparno Ghosh's Titli, in which she acted along with her mother and Mithun Chakraborty. The film was another major hit.

In 2002, Mr and Mrs Iyer was released. An English film directed by Aparna Sen starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose. The film had a great storyline and absolutely mindblowing performances by Konkona and Rahul Bose. Konkona's efforts were praised by all and she received the National Award for the Best Actress along with Aparna Sen, who received the Best Director Award. The film was featured in several international film festivals and got the due recognition there too.

In 2005, Konkona made her debut in Bollywood with Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3. Playing the role of a journalist, Konkona, just like her mother, proved that language was no barrier to her acting capabilities. Her performance in the film was convincing and praiseworthy. Amu was another film for which Konkona's acting prowes was recognized.

In early 2006, Aparna Sen's another directorial venture in English, 15 Park Avenue was released. The film had Shabana Azmi, Waheeda Rehman, Rahul Bose along with Konkona Sen Sharma. Konkona, playing the character of a schizophrenic patient was simply outstanding. It was really a treat to watch her matching her acting skills with an extremely gifted artist like Shabana Azmi.

There goes the saying - it's all in the genes and what better example can we have than Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen Sharma, who as film personalities, are simply outstanding.

Frankly speaking, in future, we are sure to have many more meaningful cinema coming from this mother-daughter duo.