Sumita Devi
Bangladeshi film actress (1936–2004)
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Sumita Devi (Bengali: সুমিতা দেবী) (born Hena Bhattacharya) also known as Nilufar Begum (February 2, 1936 - January 6, 2004) was a Bangladeshi actress.[1] In 45 years of her career, she acted in around 200 films and 150 radio and television dramas.[2] She was an artist at the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra in 1971.[3]
Early life and career
Devi was born in Manikganj District in the then Bengal Presidency.[1] She moved with her parents, first to Dhaka in 1944, then to Calcutta in 1951.[4] She debuted her acting in the film Asiya (1960).[1] She was the first actress of the then East Pakistan to act in the film Dhupchhaya produced in West Pakistan.[2] Later she produced five films.[1]
Works
- Actress
- Akash Aar Mati (1959)[5]
- Ei Desh Tomar Amar (1959)[6]
- Matir Pahar (1959)
- Asiya (1960)
- Kakhono Asheni (1961)
- Kancher Deyal (1963)[7]
- Sonar Kajal (1962)
- Ei To Jiban (1964)
- Dui Diganta (1964)
- Sangam (1964)
- Behula (1966)
- Agun Niye Khela (1967)
- Abhishap (1967)
- Ora Egaro Jon (1972)[1]
- Amar Janma Bhumi[2]
- Producer
- Agun Niye Khela (1967)
- Momer Alo (1968)
- Mayar Sangsar (1969)
- Adarsha Chapakhana (1970)
- Notun Probhat (1970)[1]
Personal life and death
Devi's first marriage to Amulya Lahiri was short.[1] Later she married filmmaker Zahir Raihan in 1962. Upon marriage she converted to Islam and took the name Nilufar Begum. With Raihan, she had two sons, Anal and Bipul.[8][9] She had another son and a daughter.[3] After the disappearance of Raihan in 1972, the government allotted an abandoned house on 7.5 kathas in Mohammadpur Thana to Devi.[8]
Devi died from a brain haemorrhage on 6 January 2004 at Bangladesh Medical Hospital in Dhaka. Both her kidneys and liver had been malfunctioning before she was admitted to the hospital. She had been in a coma since her treatment began.[2]
Awards
- All Pakistan Critic Award (1962)
- Nigar Award for Best Supporting Actress (1964)
- Bangladesh Film Journalist Association Award
- Television Reporters Association of Bangladesh Award
- Agartala Muktijoddha Award (2002)
- Janakantha Gunijan and Pratibha Sammanona (2002)[10]