Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay (actress)

Sanghamitra was born on 8 August 1956 in Belurmath to Subhash Kumar Mukherjee (1927—2012), a noted entrepreneur and footballer, and Bulbul Mukherjee (1934—1990). Subhash Kumar was a pioneer in the field of perfumery. His elder brother Madhusudan Mukherjee owned renowned firms like ‘The Ghosh Brothers Perfumers’, ‘Nirjas’, ‘Keshut’ and ‘Imuno Chemicals’.

Sanghamitra’s formal education began at ‘Adi Mahakali Pathsala’, a distinguished school in North Kolkata founded by Mataji Gangabai. She later joined the Presidency College where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Sanskrit Literature. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Sanskrit Literature from Calcutta University. She had also obtained a Diploma in Classical Dance from Prayag Sangeet Samiti of Allahabad, a Teaching Diploma in Classical Dance from Tokyo, Japan, and a Diploma in Bengali Literature from Nikhil Banga Sahitya Parishad. She was also an accomplished classical dancer who received her training from the likes of Thankomani Kutti (Bharatnatyam), Nataraj Parimal Krishna, and Bela Arnab (Kaththak), and Ramgopal Bhattacharya (Creative Dance). In 1981, Sanghamitra represented India in South-East Asia in 1981 at a conference of classical dance organized by UNESCO. While she was a student of University of Calcutta, in 1979, Sanghamitra was selected by Uttam Kumar, the legendary actor, who cast her in his last directorial venture, 'Kalankini Kankabati' which was released in August 1981. Thus, Sanghamitra was the last actress who was launched by Uttam Kumar. The song ‘Bedhechi Veena Gaan Shonabo Tomaye’ set to tune by Rahul Dev Burman, sung by the renowned classical singer Begum Parveen Sultana and picturized on Sanghamitra had gained immense popularity. However, she had no intention of becoming a professional actress. Dance, especially Kaththak, was her grand passion, and she dreamt of becoming an acclaimed classical dancer.

In 1981, Sanghamitra was approached by Umanath Bhattacharya to play a pivotal role in his directorial venture, Ashililatar Daye. This film went on to become a big hit. Very soon she was seen in critically acclaimed movies like Togori, Amrita Kumbher Sandhane, Parshuramer Kuthar, Atmaja to name a few. From the middle of the 1980s, she enacted negative characters in various commercially successful movies like Choto Bou, Streer Maryada, Parasmani and soon established herself as a successful vamp. Her popularity was further enhanced by her superlative performance in commercial films like Bouma, Apan Aamar Apan, Joy Porajoy, etc. In Bouma, Sanghamitra was paired opposite Ranjit Mallick. Following the success of this movie, they were cast together in many movies notable among which were Bidhilipi, Satarupa, Tumi Je Amar, Choto Bou, Chowdhury Paribar, Loafer, Sathi, Streer Maryada to name a few.

Sanghamitra Banerjee was also a poet of repute. Her poems had been published in several Bengali magazines. As a mark of recognition of her acting skills and literary contributions in Bengali literature, she was honored with the B. C. Roy Memorial Award in 2008. An anthology of her poems titled ‘Alolika’ was published in August 2013.