Dilip Kumar remembers his Paro from
Devdas, Suchitra Sen
Dilip Kumar, the legend's co-star, on the actress 'who spoke with her eyes'
My mind takes me back six decades to the first day of shooting for Devdas. Bimalda ( Bimal Ray) introduced me to Parvati ( Suchitra Sen), the dusky classic beauty from Bengal. I learnt from Bimalda and Hrishi ( Hrishikesh Mukherjee) that she had a lot of potential. Suchitra was class personified — full of dignity, she exuded a rare charm.
An instinctive actress, Suchitra was a minute observer of details and thoroughly read her scripts before coming to shoots. I remember the discussions we had, along with Motilal, Vyjayantimala, Bimalda and scriptwriter Nabenduda ( Nabendu Ghosh).
Suchitra had peerless, expressive eyes — she conveyed volumes with a single look. During an intense scene in Devdas, I had to look straight into her eyes and convey romance filled with pathos. She reacted uniquely — looking with equal intensity at me and doing a slight lip movement which was excellent. Bimalda complimented her after that shot and so did I.
Professional to the core, Suchitra maintained a distance from film folk and never opened up unless she was comfortable with the person she was interacting with. She preferred to work in silence. But she never disrespected anyone. As an artiste, she gave full respect to even a spot boy.
Her Hindi had a Bengali accent and it sounded sweet. She could give five modulations to a single dialogue. After Devdas, we worked in Musafirin 1957, but we were not paired together. I will never forget the serenity she lent to the bhajan, Man re hari naam karna by Lata Mangeshkar.
We shared a great work rapport, but I must confess, her pairing with Uttam Kumar was the greatest. Suchitra was unparalleled in Saat Pake Bandha, Uttar Phalguni and Deep Jwele Jai. An actress of international calibre, her looks were simply haunting.
As told to Ranjan Das Gupta
My mind takes me back six decades to the first day of shooting for Devdas. Bimalda ( Bimal Ray) introduced me to Parvati ( Suchitra Sen), the dusky classic beauty from Bengal. I learnt from Bimalda and Hrishi ( Hrishikesh Mukherjee) that she had a lot of potential. Suchitra was class personified — full of dignity, she exuded a rare charm.
An instinctive actress, Suchitra was a minute observer of details and thoroughly read her scripts before coming to shoots. I remember the discussions we had, along with Motilal, Vyjayantimala, Bimalda and scriptwriter Nabenduda ( Nabendu Ghosh).
Suchitra had peerless, expressive eyes — she conveyed volumes with a single look. During an intense scene in Devdas, I had to look straight into her eyes and convey romance filled with pathos. She reacted uniquely — looking with equal intensity at me and doing a slight lip movement which was excellent. Bimalda complimented her after that shot and so did I.
Professional to the core, Suchitra maintained a distance from film folk and never opened up unless she was comfortable with the person she was interacting with. She preferred to work in silence. But she never disrespected anyone. As an artiste, she gave full respect to even a spot boy.
Her Hindi had a Bengali accent and it sounded sweet. She could give five modulations to a single dialogue. After Devdas, we worked in Musafirin 1957, but we were not paired together. I will never forget the serenity she lent to the bhajan, Man re hari naam karna by Lata Mangeshkar.
We shared a great work rapport, but I must confess, her pairing with Uttam Kumar was the greatest. Suchitra was unparalleled in Saat Pake Bandha, Uttar Phalguni and Deep Jwele Jai. An actress of international calibre, her looks were simply haunting.
As told to Ranjan Das Gupta