Did you know? This is why Gulzar used to address Suchitra Sen as ‘SIR’

One group in the film industry addressed her as ‘sir’ and the leader of that group was filmmaker Gulzar, who directed Suchitra Sen in Aandhi.

Suchitra Sen was born on April 6th, 1931 as Roma Dasgupta. Then how did Roma become Suchitra sen?

Suchitra Sen was initially offered a singing assignment at a recording studio in Park Street. She was introduced as Roma Sen. But that assignment was shelved in favour of the female lead in a film to be directed by Sukumar Dasgupta, a noted film-maker of the time. Dasgupta put Sen through a screen test. The film was Saat Number Koyedi, rechristened this new actress Suchitra.

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One group in the film industry addressed her as ‘sir’ and the leader of that group was filmmaker Gulzar, who directed Suchitra Sen in Aandhi. This was a mutual joke between them since the making of Aandhi and Gulzar used to address her as ‘sir’ in a military tone of voice until her last days.

Gulzar, to a Entertainment portal said, “‘Though I was much junior to her in experience and in age when she was working in Aandhi, she insisted on addressing me as “sir”. We went on location with Raakhee and with Meghna, who was then a toddler. She became friends with Raakhee but continued to call me “sir”. Then, one day, I warned her that if she did not stop calling me “sir”, my entire unit would address her not as “madam” but as “sir”. This form of address sustained”.

Sen was the second Indian actress to receive an award at an international film festival when, at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, she won the Silver Prize for Best Actress for Saat Pake Bandha. It was year 1972, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. From 1979 on, she retreated from public life and shunned all forms of public contact and then in 2005, she refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic award in India.