Raima Sen

Sen was born on 7 November 1979 in Bombay (now Mumbai)^[2][3] to Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma and the granddaughter of actress Suchitra Sen who is regarded as the Mahanayika of Bengali Cinema. Her sister Riya Sen is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura.^[4] Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, whose younger sister Gayatri Devi was the Maharani of Jaipur.^[5] Sen is also a descendant of the social reformer Keshab Chandra Sen through her paternal lineage; her ancestor Suniti Devi, the Maharani of Cooch Behar and daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen, was the mother of Jitendra Narayan, who was Sen's paternal great-grandfather.^[6] Her paternal great-grandmother Indira was the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda.^[7][8]

Sen's maternal great-grandfather Adinath Sen was a prominent Kolkata businessman, whose son Dinanath Sen – a relative of former Union Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen- was the Diwan or a Minister of the Maharaja of Tripura.^[9] The sisters are credited on-screen under their mother's maiden name, although their official papers carry the surname Dev Varma.^[10]

Sen is said to resemble her grandmother much more than either her mother or her sister.^[11] In an interview, she says while she enjoys Mumbai's faster pace of life, its gyms and its nightclubs, she misses her family in Kolkata, her dog Cuddles, and Kolkata's street food, notably Jhal Muri and Aloo chaat.^[12] Sen in 2006 said that she had a brief relation with Odisha politician Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo in 2006–2007, but the relationship did not last long.^[13]

Sen made her debut in the film Godmother, which was a critically acclaimed^{[by whom?]} success, but her minor role may have been overlooked in favour of the protagonist, played by Shabana Azmi. She then starred in the film Daman playing Raveena Tandon's daughter, where her small performance was appreciated.

Her breakthrough role came when she starred in the Rituparno Ghosh's film Chokher Bali. After a few more average movies she had Parineeta in 2005, where she played the playmate of the film's heroine, played by the debutante Vidya Balan. Since then she has had two more hits with the action thriller Dus and the Bengali film Antar Mahal (where she had a very small role). In 2006, she appeared in the film The Bong Connection (co-starring Shayan Munshi). In 2007, she worked in the thriller Manorama Six Feet Under with Abhay Deol. In 2011, she starred in the hit Bengali film Baishe Srabon, opposite Parambrata Chatterjee.

2014 saw Sen as the leading lady in the critically acclaimed Hrid Majharey, the first Bengali movie based on the works of William Shakespeare, and presented as a tribute on the 450th year of birth of the Bard.^[14][15] She co-stars with Abir Chatterjee and Indrasish Roy in this dark love-story by debutant filmmaker Ranjan Ghosh.^[16] The film has earned a rare recommendation from the Film London in its list of world cinema based on the plays of Shakespeare.^[17] The film and its screenplay have also been included in the UGC Literature Archive.^[18] It is also famous for being the only other Bengali film after Sabuj Dweeper Raja (1979) to be shot in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.^[19][20][21]

In 2016, she was seen in Bollywood Diaries, a film written and directed by K.D. Satyam. The film also stars Ashish Vidyarthi and Salim Diwan.^{[citation needed]} In Amazon Prime's The Last Hour, released in 2020,^[22] Sen and Sanjay Kapoor played the main roles.

• 2006: BFJA-Most Promising Actress Award for Nishijapon^[28]