| Sumita Devi (1936-2004) actress
and filmmaker. Born in a Hindu family of Manikganj district in 1936, Sumita
had her original name Hena Bhattacharya, later changed to Nilufar Begum
alias Sumita Devi after she got conversion to Islam. Sumita was a leading
personality of Dhaka film society in the 1960s. She first acted in the
feature film Aasia (1957).
Her next film was Akash Ar Mati (1960). Both were directed
by fateh
lohani. Aasia got the President's Award as the
best Bengali film for 1961. Sumita's career in acting spanned
for nearly four decades. She acted in the main role in more than
fifty feature films and in side roles in more than a hundred.
Noted among the films Sumita acted in are Kakhono Aaseni
(1961), Kancher Deyal (1963), Edesh Tomar Amar,
Sonar Kajal (1962), Ei To Jiban (1964), Dui Diganta
(1964), Agun Niye Khela (1967), Abhishap (1967),
Behula, Ora Egaro Jan and Amar Janmabhumi.
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Sumita Devi |
She also acted in Dhupchaya, a film produced in
West Pakistan and in a number of Urdu films made in the then East Pakistan.
During her long career in acting she performed roles in radio, television
and theatre as well. As a filmmaker Sumita produced five films. These
were Agum Niye Khela, Momer Alo, Mayar Sangsar, Adarsha
Chapakhana and Notun Probhat.
Sumita Devi first got married to Amulya Lahiri. The marriage, however, did not last long. In 1962, she married zahir raihan. During the War of Liberation in 1971 Sumita was a regular artiste of the swadhin bangla betar kendra. In recognition of her performance Sumita Devi was awarded the All Pakistan Critic Award in 1962 and Nigar Prize in 1963. After the independence of Bangladesh, she received the Bangladesh Film Journalist Association Award and the Television Reporters Association of Bangladesh Award. Sumita Devi was also honoured with the Agartala Muktijoddha Award (2002) and Janakantha Gunijan and
Pratibha Sammanona (2002).
Sumita Devi died on 6 January 2004 and was buried at
the Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard in state honour. [Sambaru Chandra
Mohanta]
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