Bangali Actress Mamata Shankar 1955

Mamata Shankar (born 7 January 1955) is an actress in the Bengali language film industry of India. She has acted in films by renowned film directors including, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadev Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh. In addition to being an actress, she is a dancer and choreographer.

She is the daughter of legendary dancers Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar, and the niece of Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Born in 1955 to Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar, her brother was a renowned indo-western fusion musician Ananda Shankar.

She received her training in dance and choreography at the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre', Calcutta under Amala Shankar.

Career

She made her film debut with Mrigayaa in 1976, directed by Mrinal Sen. The film won the National Film Award for Best Film for the year.

Mamata is married to Chandrodoy Ghosh, and runs 'Udayan - Mamta Shankar Dance Company' (founded in 1986, and which travels extensively throughout the world), with the 'Mamata Shankar Ballet Troupe'. The troupe was founded in 1978, and performed its first production, based on a Rabindranath Tagore work, Chandalika, in 1979., it was followed by Horikhela, Aajker Ekalabya, Milap, Shikaar, Mother Earth”, and Amritasyaputra.

Filmography

• Mrigayaa aka The Royal Hunt (1976)
• Oka Oori Katha aka The Marginal Ones aka The Outsiders (1977)
• Dooratwa aka Distance (1978)
• Ek Din Pratidin aka And Quiet Rolls the Dawn aka One Day Like Another (USA) (1979)
• Kharij aka The Case Is Closed (1982)
• Grihajuddha aka Crossroads (1982)
• Dakhal aka The Occupation (1982)
• Ganashatru aka An Enemy of the People (1989)
• Shakha Proshakha aka The Branches of the Tree aka Les Branches de L'arbre (1990)
• Agantuk aka The Stranger aka Le Visiteur (1991)
• Sunya Theke Suru aka A Return to Zero (1993)
• Sopan (1994)
• Utsab aka The Festival (2000)
• The Bong Connection (2006)
• Samudra Sakshi (2006)
• Ballyganj Court (2007)

Awards

• National Film Awards
  • 1992: Special Jury Award: Agantuk