Bengali Beauty : Konkona Sen Sharma

By: Nikita C Fernandes

Seductive yet simple , gorgeous yet plain . A rare combination of beauty and intelligence. This Bengali beauty is a league apart. With her line of great movies , Konkona stands apart from the rest. Her unique line up of movies has made one love her more. Konkona Sen Sharma is the daughter of the legendary Bengali actress Aparna Sen . Her father is Mukul Sharma, a renowned science writer and journalist. Young Konkona was a student of Modern High School for Girls , Calcutta as well as the Calcutta International School. She graduated in English from St. Stephen College, Delhi.

This actress made her debut as a child artist in the film Indira . She played the role of a boy who was Aparna Sen's son. Konkona also known as Koko by her loved ones also played Shabana Azmi's daughter in the telefilm Picnic. It was during this film , Shabana Azmi nicknamed her Koko.

After the critical acclaim of her film Mr and Mrs. Iyer , Shabana Azmi complimented her for her brilliant performance. She had earlier predicted that Konkona would be an actress of a high standing. Her prediction turned out to be true.

She enjoys to be directed by her mother, Aparna Sen. This mother - daughter combination has delivered some good movies of rather unspoken themes like Mr and Mrs. Iyer and 15 Park Avenue. Her role as Mrs. Iyer in the movie won her the national award for best actress in her groundbreaking performance in 2003.

However, after the success of Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3 which opened a can of worms of the page 3 culture. She played the role of a naÏve journalist Madhavi who was shocked by the bizarreness of a culture very new to her. Her performance in this movie was simply astounding. Her performance in this role proved that she was ready to take on every role and play it to a T.

Playing the role of a schizophrenic in the movie 15 Park Avenue made the role of Mithi understand the tangents of the life of a person suffering from schizophrenia. The ensemble cast , resolution and great story in the movie gripped the audience till the very end. The portrayal of Mithi was phenomenally played by Konkona .

She has also acted in a variety of Bengali movies like Amodhini , Titli and Amu which has made some of her performances unforgettable.

Her much awaited movie this year is Omkara were she portrays the role of Indu who is Emilia in Shakespeare 's Othello. Her life with a scrupulous gangster was always going to be tricky but Indu bore it all with stern determination. Fiercely devoted to Langda, she becomes an unwitting aid in her husband's nefarious scheme. When the truth dawns, she takes up the cudgel and decides to stem the rot. With great expectations arising for the brilliant ensemble of this movie, one cannot wait for a superb performance by Konkona.

Filmography