Aparna Sen Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Birth name	Aparna Dasgupta
Nickname	Coppola [1]News18
Profession(s)	• Filmmaker • Screenwriter • Actress
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 167 cm in meters- 1.67 m in feet & inches- 5’ 6”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Dark Brown
Career
Debut	As a director: film- 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) As an actor: film- Teen Kanya (1961); as Mrinmoyee
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• 1987: Honoured with Padma Shri National Film Awards • 1981: Best Direction for 36 Chowringhee Lane • 1981: Best Feature Film in English for 36 Chowringhee Lane • 1984: Best Feature Film in Bengali for Paroma • 1995: Best Feature Film in Bengali for Yugant • 2000: Best Feature Film in Bengali, for Paromitar Ek Din • 2002: Best Direction for Mr and Mrs Iyer • 2002: Best Screenplay for Mr and Mrs Iyer • 2002: Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for Mr and Mrs Iyer • 2005: Best Feature Film in English for 15 Park Avenue Nargis Dutt Awards • 2002: Best Feature Film on National Integration for Mr and Mrs Iyer • 1974: Best Actress Award for Sujata • 1976: Best Actress Award for Asamaya • 1982: Best Actress Award for Bijoyini • 1983: Best Actress Award for Indira • 1985: Best Director Award for Parama BFJA Awards • 1970: Best Actress Award for Aparachito • 1975: Best Actress Award for Sujata • 1986: Best Director Award for Parama • 1986: Best Screenplay Award for Parama • 1988: Best Actress Award for Ekanto Apan • 1992: Best Supporting Actress Award for Mahaprithibi • 1993: Best Actress Award for Swet Patharer Thala • 1997: Best Supporting Actress Award for Unishr April • 1997: Babulal Chowkhani Memorial Trophy for Original Story-Yugant • 2001: Best Actress Award for Paramitar Ek Din • 2001: Babulal Chowkhani Memorial Trophy for Original Story and Screenplay forParamitar Ek Din • 2003: Most Outstanding Work of the Year for Mr and Mrs Iyer Other Awards • 2022: Best Director Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for The Rapist • 2013: Life Time Achievement Award
Personal Life
Date of Birth	25 October 1945 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2024)	79 Years
Birthplace	Kolkata, West Bengal
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Kolkata, West Bengal
School	• South Point School, Kolkata • Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata
College/University	Presidency College, Kolkata
Educational Qualification	BA in English Literature
Religion	She considers herself a secular and liberal person. [2]Twitter - Aparna Sen
Caste	Baidya
Political Inclination	In an interview, she talked about politics, and said, "I not wish to be aligned with any political party. My politics is entirely issue based. I don’t trust any political party because they have to perforce work towards their vote banks. They have to manipulate, so it’s important that the citizen remain vigilant." [3]The Hindu
Hobby	Reading
Controversies	• The 2013 Saradha Group financial scam In 2013, after the Saradha Group financial scandal took place, 200 private companies went into loss and got shut down. The magazine Paroma was one of those 200 companies. Reportedly, Aparna Sen, the editor of Paroma magazine, was grilled by the ED officials for more than five hours. During the questioning,she was asked about several financial transactions. The Enforcement Directorate accused Aparna of receiving Rs. 75 lakh as remuneration from Saradha Group. On 14 April 2013, Paroma magazine finally closed down. [4]The Indian Express • Commenting about the Bharatiya Janata Party and BSF During a press conference on 16 November 2021 in Kolkata, Aparna Sen, reportedly, labelled the Border Security Force (BSF) as 'murderers' and 'rapists' and also said, "aai barey aaro barano hochche! Ekta militarisation hochche! Kendriya sarkar okhane aro BSF - jano erai jothesto noy. Jara hotya korchen, dharshan korchen tarai jano jothesto noy, aaro barachchen." According to Sen, the military was being given more power than it should get. She urged the West Bengal government to think about the people living at the border regions so that they can do trade and farming as per their choices. Two months after Aparn's statement, BJP's North Kolkata district president Kalyan Chaube filed an FIR against her at Ultodanga police station, Kolkata. [5]Anandabazar Patrika [6]Hindustan Times • Letter to PM On 23 July 2019, filmmaker Aparna Sen was among 49 celebrities who wrote an open letter to PM Narendra Modi in which they protested against the intolerance the name of religion in the country. Throught the letter, they claimed that they are not pointing fingers at a particular government or regime. The letter also claimed that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants had become a war cry and created communal tension in the society. Aparna Sen joined this campaign and was criticized heavily after she was confronted and asked a series of questions by LIVE TV during which she chose to remain silent. [7]Republic TV
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Third marriage- 29 July 1993
Family
Husband/Spouse	• First Husband- Sanjay Sen • Second Husband- Mukul Sharma (div. 1985) (Science writer and journalist) • Third Husband- Kalyan Ray (English professor)
Children	Son- None Daughter(s)- Kamalini Chatterjee (from first marriage) Konkona Sen (from first marriage) (Actress)
Parents	Father- Chidananda Dasgupta (Filmmaker) Mother- Supriya Dasgupta (Costume designer)
Other relatives	Aparna's maternal grandfather, Brahmananda Dashgupta, was the brother of poet Jibanananda Das.
Favourites
Film	Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
Novel	The Family Moskat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Fimmaker	Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Singer(s)	Indian: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Rashid Khan American: Elvis Presley Canadian: Leonard Cohen
Band	The Beatles
Composer	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sitarist	Nikhil Bandopadhyay
Author(s)	Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Arthur C. Clarke, Roald Dahl, and Isaac Asimov

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aparna Sen

• Aparna Sen is an Indian director, scriptwriter, and actor, who is known for her work in the Bengali film industry. She has won nine National Film Awards and nine international film festival awards for her direction in films.

• Her name is pronounced Oporna Shen.

• Aparna was fondly called Coppola by Shashi Kapoor. ^[8]News18

• Her mother, Supriya Dasgupta, was a costume designer who won the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for Chidananda’s directorial venture Amodini (1995) at the age of 73.

• Her father, Chidananda Das Gupta, was one of the founders of the Calcutta Film Society with Satyajit Ray in 1947.

• Aparna was very young when she got married to Sanjay Sen. Their marriage didn’t last long. Later, she married Mukul Sharma; however, the couple divorced each other in 1985. On 1 March 2019, Mukul passed away at the age of 69.

• Sen’s elder daughter, Kamalini Chatterjee, went to the United States for further studies.

• In 1960, New Zealand photographer Brain Brake was working on a photo series on monsoons and the people affected by them. He captured Aparna Sen, who was then 14 years old, on the terrace of her home with her eyes closed and enjoying the rain on her face. The water was coming from a garden hose. Aparna’s photo was published as the cover picture in Life Magazine the following year.
  

  Aparna Sen, Monsoon Girl (1960), shot by Brian Brake for Life Magazine

• Aparna was 16 years old when she made her debut with Satyajit Ray’s film Teen Kanya.

• In 1994, she played the role of Sarojini in the Bengali film Unishe Apri.
  

  Aparna Ssen as Sarojini in a still from the film Unishe Apri (1994)

• She has appeared in several Bengali films including Basanta Bilap (1973), Mohonar Dike (1984), Swet Patharer Thala (1992), Indira (1984), Ek Din Achanak (1999), Titli (2001), Antaheen (2009), and Chatushkon (2014).
  

  Aparna Sen as Anuradha Singha in a still from the Bengali film (1974)

• Apart from acting in films, Aparna paved her way in the direction of films as well. She directed several award-winning Bengali films including Paroma (1984), Yugant (1995), and 15 Park Avenue (2005).
  

  The poster of the film 15 Park Avenue (2005)

• From 1986 to 2005, Aparna worked as an editor of Sananda, a Bengali women’s magazine. Later, she worked as a creative director at Kolkata TV, a Bengali 24×7 infotainment channel for a year.

• In 1989, she was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.

• In 2008, she was elected to the International Jury of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

• In 2011, she became the editor of Paroma magazine. Two years later, Aparna and the editorial team of Paroma magazine launched a new magazine ‘Prothoma Ekhon.’

• In 2013, she headed the jury of the second Ladakh International Film Festival.

• In an interview, Aparna said that she once read the Mahabharata and found Lord Krishna fascinating. ^[9]The Telegraph

• In 2022, she directed a Hindi film, The Rapist, starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Arjun Rampal.
  

  The poster of the film The Rapist (2022) directed by Aparna Sen