Born as Roma Dasgupta, known as the “Mahanayika” of Bengali cinema, Suchita Sen is who we call the pioneer woman of beauty with brains. Being on the silver screen for nearly 3 decades and appearing in 30 Bengali and 7 Hindi films, ensuring that she receives equal fame and treatment as her male co-stars, Suchitra Sen has indeed set a benchmark for the looming female actors.

The Statesman, honouring her birthday on 6 April, visited Tathagata Sen’s private collection to look into the private archives of original Suchitra Sen movie posters, film booklets, and other memorabilia from the 1950s. These items, once sold in abundance at markets and prevalently found displayed outside movie theatres, are rare antiques now. To be specific, Suchitra Sen was married to Dibanath Sen, Tathagata’s father’s nephew, and therefore, due to his connection and passion, he established his own private gallery and collection of movie artefacts of the former.

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Tathagata Sen said, “What I have observed is her tremendous self-esteem. Even when she was a beginner, she knew where to draw the line. So something that Kanan Devi has acknowledged in her autobiography, titled “Sabare Ami Nami”. She said that our generation of actresses were abused, almost by everybody, not only directors but also technicians. Mrs Sen from the very beginning drew a line. Once an editor of a Bengali film magazine invited her for a photoshoot at his place, and she answered that if he needs to take pictures, he has to come to her residence and not the other way round. This is where she subverts the patriarchal power equations. You can see most of the posters have her name first. She took on patriarchy single-handedly and became an inspiration.”

“Unfortunately, I am the last of my lineage to possess this collection. A museum or gallery should be put up in the city to restore and showcase the Mahanayika’s artefacts, reminding generations of her as an actress who defied patriarchal norms while maintaining a vivid gap between personal and professional life.”