Moushumi Chatterjee


Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress who is recognised for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. Her on-screen pairing with Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Vinod Mehra were popular. She was the sixth highest paid actress in Hindi films during the 70s. She joined Bharatiya Janata Party on 2 January 2019.

Early life

Moushumi Chatterjee was born in Calcutta. Her father Prantosh Chattopadhyaya was in the Indian Army and her grandfather was a judge.

Career

1967–1984: Debut and breakthrough

Chatterjee made her film debut in the Bengali hit Balika Badhu, directed by Tarun Majumdar. In an interview, Moushumi Chatterjee quoted: "After Balika Badhu, I was flooded with Bengali movies but I wished to complete my studies. However, movies were in my fate hence when I was studying in class X, a close aunt of mine was on her death-bed and her last wish was to see me married. Hence, to satisfy her wish I got married." She was called as Indira at home. She got engaged to guardian and neighbour Hemant Kumar's son, Jayant Mukherjee. "I fell in love with Babu. He was the first man I came in touch with outside my family." She was then seen in Bengali films like Parineeta, Anindita.
Her debut as heroine in the Hindi film Anuraag in 1972 was directed by Shakti Samanta. The film became very successful. She played a blind girl who falls in love, and her performance earned her a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. Anuraag won the Filmfare Award as Best Picture. About her Hindi film debut, she said in an interview: "As my father-in-law was a renowned film celebrity, many film personalities used to throng our house. One among them was filmmaker Shakti Samanta, who insisted upon me to act in movies. I declined, but both my father-in-law and my husband encouraged me, thus I got Anuraag." When asked about her first role in Hindi films she said that "hen Shaktida told me that I have to play a blind lady I was taken aback. I honestly told Shaktida that I may not do justice to the role as I have never studied a blind person, but Shaktida assured me that he will take me to a blind school and train me... he insisted to do a small Mahurat shot before. When I reached the studio I was excited to see Bollywood luminaries like Nutanji, Dadamoni, Rajesh Khanna, S. D. Burman and others. The moment Shaktida called action I did my Mahurat shot confidently and was applauded. After the shot, Shaktida told me that I had given the shot so skillfully that there was no need to visit a blind school!"
In 1973, she acted in Naina opposite Shashi Kapoor, Kuchhe Dhaage with Vinod Khanna and Us Paar with Vinod Mehra. In 1974, she acted with the then-struggling Amitabh Bachchan in the thriller Benaam and opposite Rajesh Khanna in the suspense drama Humshakal. Her most successful film came at the end of 1974, where she played a rape survivor in Manoj Kumar's Roti Kapada Aur Makaan. Her performance earned her a Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress. She went on to become a part of several successful films like Swarg Narak, Maang Bharo Sajna, Pyaasa Sawan, Jyoti Bane Jwala with Jeetendra, Swayamvar with Shashi Kapoor and Anand Ashram with Rakesh Roshan. She acted with Rishi Kapoor in four films none of which were successful.
She was romantically paired with Vinod Mehra in 10 films, including Anuraag, Us-Paar, Raftaar, Umar Qaid, Mazaaq, Zindagi and Do Jhoot. She only acted in 2 films with Amitabh Bachchan, Benaam and Basu Chatterjee's Manzil. Her Bengali film with Uttam Kumar, Ogu Bodhu Sundari, released in 1981 and became successful. In 1982, she did the Marathi film Bhannat Bhanu. Her films with Rajesh Khanna included Bhola Bhala, Prem Bandhan and Ghar Parivar. She worked with Sanjeev Kumar in Angoor, Daasi and Itni Si Baat. In 1985, she acted in the Bengali film Pratigna.
After 1985, she graduated to supporting roles in several movies like Watan Ke Rakhwale, Aag Hi Aag and Ghayal.

1985–present: Transition period

From 1985 to 1991, Chatterjee got more offers as a character actress and she made the transition to roles of mother and bhabhi, often pairing with Dharmendra or Sunil Dutt. She played Sunny Deol's sister-in-law in Ghayal. Occasionally, she got lead roles in films in the 1990s such as Ghar Parivaar and Aa Ab Laut Chalen, both opposite Rajesh Khanna, then Santaan, Prateeksha and Udhaar Ki Zindagi with Jeetendra. Some of her films as supporting actress since 1995 include Keemat: They Are Back, Aa Ab Laut Chalen and Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Hum Kaun Hai?.
In 2006, Moushumi Chatterjee made a comeback to cinema, with Tanuja Chandra's Zindaggi Rocks. She did the Indo-Canadian production Bollywood/Hollywood in 2003.
Her Bengali films as the lead heroine include Balika Badhu, Parineeta, Anindita, Anand Ashram, Ogu Bodhu Sundari, Prarthana, Shatarupa, Kari Diye Kinlam, Bidhilipi and later as supporting actress; Nater Guru, Bhalobasar Anek Naam, The Japanese Wife and Goynar Baksho. She sang a song titled "Tomar Duare" in the film Mallick Bari. In 2014, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the Bengali film Goynar Baksho and received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Personal life

She married producer Jayanta Mukherjee, son of music composer and singer Hemant Kumar, who is also an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. They have two daughters, Payal and Megha. She started acting in Hindi films after marriage.
In 2019, she joined Bharatiya Janata Party. Her daughter Payal died on 13 December 2019.

Awards

Filmography

  1. Prarthana
  2. Kari Diye Kinlam
  3. Hatyara as Gauri Vijay Singh
  4. Be-Rahem
  5. Sesh Sangbad
  6. Pyar Ka Devta as Chief Justice Saraswati Manohar Rai
  7. Taqdeer Ka Tamasha as Geeta
  8. Ghar Parivaar as Parvati
  9. Raksha as Asha
  10. Mahananda
  11. Watan Ke Rakhwale as Laxmi Suraj Prakash
  12. Ghar Ki Laaj
  13. Bhalobasar Onek Naam as Bini
  14. Shatarupa
  15. Bidhilipi
  16. Bouthan
  17. Nater Guru as Manisha's Mother
  18. Kartavya
  19. Muqaddar
  20. Rusvai
  21. Badla aur balidaan
  22. Dekha pyar tumhara
  23. Love in Canada
  24. Kahani ek chor ki
  25. Aan aur shaan
  26. Ek baap chhe bete
  27. The Cheat
  28. Balika Badhu
  29. Parineeta .... Lalita
  30. Anuraag .... Shivani
  31. Anindita
  32. Naina
  33. Kuchhe Dhaage .... Sona
  34. Ghulam Begam Badshah
  35. Zehreela Insaan
  36. Us-Paar .... Kamla
  37. Roti Kapada Aur Makaan .... Tulsi
  38. Humshakal .... Radha/Sita
  39. Badla .... Kalpana
  40. Benaam .... Sheela Srivastav
  41. Umar Qaid
  42. Raftaar .... Rani/Rita
  43. Natak
  44. Mazaaq .... Moushumi
  45. Do Jhoot
  46. Anari
  47. Sabse Bada Rupaiya .... Sunita
  48. Jai Bajrang Bali -- Devi Maa Sita
  49. Zindagi .... Seema
  50. Anand Ashram .... Kiran
  51. Ab Kya Hoga .... Vidya
  52. Swarg Narak .... Shobha Mohan Kapoor
  53. Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan .... Shanti
  54. Phandebaaz
  55. Dil Aur Deewar .... Saroj
  56. Bhola Bhala .... Renu
  57. Do Ladke Dono Kadke .... Rani
  58. Prem Bandhan - Meena Mehra
  59. Gautam Govinda .... Sandhya
  60. Manzil .... Aruna Khosla
  61. Swayamvar .... Roopa Bhargav
  62. Maang Bharo Sajana .... Sita Ram Kumar
  63. Jyoti Bane Jwala .... Anu
  64. Chambal Ki Kasam
  65. Do Premee .... Payal/Parvati Singh Dogra
  66. Pyaasa Sawan .... Shanti
  67. Ogu Bodhu Sundari
  68. Krodhi .... Aarti
  69. Itni Si Baat .... Asha
  70. Daasi
  71. Bhannat Bhanu
  72. Angoor .... Sudha A. Tilak
  73. Justice Chaudhury .... Janki Chaudhary
  74. Pet Pyaar Aur Paap
  75. Jawaani .... Prema Mohan
  76. Ghar Ek Mandir
  77. Urbashi
  78. Mera Karam Mera Dharam .... Mala
  79. Mahananda .... Ms. Mahananda
  80. Aag Hi Aag .... Mrs. Ganga Singh
  81. Param Dharam .... Savitri
  82. Vijay .... Rita
  83. Waqt Ki Awaz ....
  84. Agnee .... Shobha
  85. Aakhri Gulam
  86. Aakhri Baazi .... Parvati P. Kumar
  87. Jung Baaz.... Mrs. Krishna Prasad Saxena
  88. Sikka .... Laxmi
  89. Shehzaade .... Padmini Singh
  90. Ghayal .... Indu Mehra
  91. Zulm Ki Hukumat .... Pitamber's wife
  92. Khule-Aam .... Roopa
  93. Nishchaiy .... Renuka Singh
  94. Prateeksha .... Laxmi
  95. Santaan .... Laxmi
  96. Udhaar Ki Zindagi.... Janki
  97. Ikke Pe Ikka .... Kaushalya Devi
  98. Kartavya .... Sharda Varma
  99. Jallaad
  100. Kareeb .... Neha's Mother
  101. Doli Saja Ke Rakhna .... Mrs. Chandrika Bansal
  102. Keemat – They Are Back .... Sulakshana Tripathi
  103. Aa Ab Laut Chalen .... Rohan's Mother
  104. Na Tum Jaano Na Hum .... Mrs. Malhotra
  105. Bollywood/Hollywood .... Mrs. Seth
  106. Hum Kaun Hai? .... Mrs. Martha Pinto
  107. Zindaggi Rocks ... Kriya's mother and Mausi
  108. The Japanese Wife ... Maashi
  109. Goynar Baksho... Pishi
  110. Piku