Moushumi Chatterjee

Moushumi Chatterjee
Moushumi Chatterjee in 2017
Born	Indira Chattopadhyay Calcutta, West Bengal, Dominion of India (present–day India)
Occupations	Actress politician
Years active	1970–present
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (2019–present) Indian National Congress (before 2019)
Spouse	Jayant Mukherjee
Children	2
Relatives	Hemant Kumar (father-in-law)

Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019; she was previously a member of the Indian National Congress.

Early and personal life

Chatterjee was born in Calcutta to a Bengali Brahmin family which hailed from Bikrampur in undivided Bengal. Her father, Prantosh Chattopadhyaya, was in the Indian Army and her grandfather was a judge. Her real name is Indira and Moushumi is her screen-name.

Indira Chattopadhyaya (her real name) was married to Jayanta Mukherjee at a young age. The couple has two daughters. Jayanta Mukherjee is the son of popular film producer, music composer and singer Hemant Kumar. Jayanta is also an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. With the support and encouragement of her husband and father-in-law, Indira accepted the offer to act in films and adopted Moushumi as her screen name. Her film career as a heroine began only after her wedding. She always prioritised her family above her film roles. Her daughter Payal, who had type 1 diabetes was in coma since 2018 and died on 13 December 2019.

Career

1967–1984: Debut and breakthrough

Chatterjee made her film debut as a child heroine in the Bengali hit Balika Badhu (1967), directed by Tarun Majumdar when she was a preteen. 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 (Babu). "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.

She made her debut as the leading lady in the Hindi film Anuraag in 1972 was directed by Shakti Samanta. The film proved to be a major success. She played a blind girl who falls in love, and she earned her first and only nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress; Anuraag won the Filmfare Award for Best Film. 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 "[w]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 (Ashok Kumar fondly called), 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, Kachhe 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 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. She received her first and only nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to become a part of several successful films like Swarag 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 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 (1979). Her Bengali film with Uttam Kumar, Ogu Bodhu Sundari, released in 1981 and became successful. In 1982, she did the Marathi film (cameo in song Tumhi Adkitta Mi Ho Supari) Bhannat Bhanu. Her films with Rajesh Khanna include Bhola Bhala, Prem Bandhan and Ghar Parivar. She worked with Sanjeev Kumar in many movies including Angoor, Daasi and Itni Si Baat. In 1985, she acted in the Bengali film Pratigna.

After 1985, she graduated to supporting roles and acted in movies like Watan Ke Rakhwale, Aag Hi Aag, Ghayal and many more

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 (sister-in-law), 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 (1993) and Udhaar Ki Zindagi with Jeetendra and Keemat: They Are Back (1998). She acted in the Indo-Canadian production Bollywood/Hollywood in 2003 and Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Hum Kaun Hai? in 2004. Moushumi Chatterjee made a comeback to cinema, with Tanuja Chandra's Zindaggi Rocks in 2006.

Apart from Balika Badhu (1967) her Bengali films as lead heroine include Parineeta (1969), Anindita (1972), Anand Ashram (1977), Ogu Bodhu Sundari (1981), Prarthana (1984), Shatarupa (1989), Kari Diye Kinlam (1989), Bidhilipi (1991) and later as supporting actress; Nater Guru (2003), Bhalobasar Anek Naam (2005), The Japanese Wife (2010) and Goynar Baksho (2013). She sang a song Tomar Duare in Mallick Bari (2009). 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.

Political foray

Chatterjee contested in 2004 Lok Sabha election as a candidate for Indian National Congress, but lost. In 2019, she joined Bharatiya Janata Party.

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1968	Bengal Film Journalists' Association	Best Actress	Balika Badhu	Won
1972	Filmfare Awards	Best Actress	Anuraag	Nominated
1974	Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Roti Kapda Aur Makaan	Nominated
1974	Bengal Film Journalists' Association	Best Supporting Actress	Roti Kapda Aur Makaan	Won
2002	Genie Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Bollywood/Hollywood	Nominated
2014	Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Bengali	Goynar Baksho	Won
2015	Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award	Lifetime Achievement Award		Won
2016	Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award		Won

Filmography

	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Balika Badhu	Rajani	First movie; Bengali
1969	Parineeta	Lolita	Bengali
1972	Anuraag	Shivani	Debut Hindi film. Nominated- Filmfare Award for Best Actress
1973	Naina	Naina
1973	Kuchhe Dhaage	Sona
1973	Ghulam Begam Badshah	Laxmi
1974	Zehreela Insaan	Arati
1974	Us Paar	Kamla
1974	Roti Kapada Aur Makaan	Tulsi	Nominated Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
1974	Humshakal	Sita
1974	Benaam	Sheela
1974	Badla	Kalpana
1975	Umar Qaid	Dr. Bharti
1975	Raftaar	Rani/Rita
1975	Natak
1975	Mazaaq	Moushumi
1975	Do Jhoot	Lajwanti
1975	Anari	Rashmi
1976	Sabse Bada Rupaiya	Sunita
1976	Jai Bajrang Bali	Devi
1976	Zindagi	Seema
1977	Anand Ashram	Kiran
1977	Ab Kya Hoga	Cameo
1977	Hatyara	Gauri Vijay Singh
1978	Tumhari Kasam	Vidya
1978	Swarg Narak	Shobha
1978	Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan	Shanti
1978	Phandebaaz	Shanti
1978	Dil Aur Deewar	Saroja
1978	Bhola Bhala	Renu
1979	Do Ladke Dono Kadke	Rani
1979	Prem Bandhan	Meena
1979	Gautam Govinda	Sandhya
1979	Manzil	Aruna
1979	Love in Canada	Seema
1979	Ghar Ki Laaj	Janki
1980	Swayamvar	Roopa
1980	Maang Bharo Sajana	Sita
1980	Jyoti Bane Jwala	Anu
1980	Chambal Ki Kasam	Tannibai
1980	Badla aur Balidaan	Jyoti
1980	Do Premee	Payal/Parvati
1980	Be-Reham	Hameeda Banu	Special appearance
1981	Pyaasa Sawan	Shanti
1981	Krodhi	Aarti	Guest appearance
1981	Itni Si Baat	Asha
1981	Ogo Bodhu Shundari	Sabitri	Bengali
1981	Daasi	Mangala
1982	Raksha	Asha	Special appearance
1982	Angoor	Sudha
1983	Justice Choudhary	Mrs. Choudhary
1984	Pet Pyaar aur Paap
1984	Jawaani	Prema Mohan
1984	Ghar Ek Mandir	Laxmi bhabhi
1984	Aan aur Shaan	Radha	Delayed release
1985	Rusvaai		Last film with late Sanjeev Kumar
1985	Dekha Pyar Tumhara	Mrs. Mullick
1986	Urbashi	Urbashi	Bengali
1987	Sindoor	Cameo
1987	Aag Hi Aag	Ganga Singh
1987	Mahananda	Mahananda	Bengali
1987	Mera Karam Mera Dharam	Mala
1987	Watan Ke Rakhwale	Laxmi Suraj Prakash
1987	Param Dharam	Savitri Singh
1988	Taqdeer Ka Tamasha	Greta
1988	Waqt Ki Awaz	Justice Sharda
1988	Vijay	Rita
1988	Agnee	Shobha
1989	Aakhri Ghulam
1989	Aakhri Baazi	Mrs. Parvati Kumar
1989	Jung Baaz	Mrs. Saxena
1989	Sikka	Laxmi
1989	Shehzaade	Padmini Singh
1990	Ghayal	Indu Mehra
1991	Ghar Parivaar	Parvati Devi
1991	Pyar Ka Devta	Chief Justice Saraswati
1992	Zulm Ki Hukumat	Mrs. Pitambar
1992	Khule-Aam	Roopadevi
1992	Nishchaiy	Renuka Singh
1993	Prateeksha	Laxmi
1993	Santaan	Laxmi
1994	Udhaar Ki Zindagi	Janki
1994	Ikke Pe Ikka	Kaushalya Devi
1995	Kartavya	Sharda Varma
1995	Jallaad	Tara Devi
1996	Muqaddar
1998	Kareeb
1998	Doli Saja Ke Rakhna	Chandrika Bansal
1998	Keemat – They Are Back	Sulakshana
1999	Aa Ab Laut Chalen	Rama Khanna
2002	Na Tum Jaano Na Hum	Mrs. Malhotra
2002	Bollywood/Hollywood	Mummyji	Canadian comedy
2004	Hum Kaun Hai?	Martha Pinto
2006	Zindaggi Rocks	Indrani Sengupta
2006	Bhalobasar Onek Naam	Bini	Bengali
2010	The Japanese Wife	Maashi	Bengali
2013	Goynar Baksho	Pishi	Bengali
2015	Piku	Chhobi Maashi
2016	Sesh Sangbad	Elina	Bengali
2025	Aari †	TBA	Bengali

Television

Year	Serial	Role	Notes
1993	Albeli	Albeli	Season 1
2021	Super Dancer	Guest	Season 4
2023	India's Best Dancer	Guest	Season 3

External links

• Moushumi Chatterjee at IMDb