The much talented Indian movie actress Nandita Das was born on 7 November 1969 in New Delhi to Jatin Das who is a renowned painter and an Oriya Hindu and Varsha who is a writer and a Gujrati Jain. Nandita did her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Lodhi Estate in New Delhi. She completed her B.A. in Geography from Miranda House (University of Delhi) and Post Graduation from the Delhi School of Social Work. She was earlier married to Saumya Sen but the couple soon divorced in 2009. later she married Subodh Maskara, an industrialist.the couple have a baby boy named Vihaan.

Nandita Das`s Film Career
Nandita has carved a niche in films through her offbeat films with directors like Deepa Mehta, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Rituparno Ghosh and others. She began her career with a theatre group called Jannatya Manch. Thereafter she has lent her voice in the audio book series for kids `Under the Banyan` by Karadi Tales, `The Story of My Experiments with Truth` on Mahatma Gandhi by Charkha Audiobooks and the children`s series, The Wonder Pets as the Bengal Tiger.

However she has also appeared in Hindi commercial movies like Aks with Amitabh Bachchan and the light hearted romantic comedy Bas Yuh Hi. This young versatile actress is known both nationally and internationally and has acted in films in ten different languages to date: English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Oriya and Kannada. Most of these have been screened in the international film festivals. What puts Nandita Das apart from other actresses is her choice of films. She loves the medium and sees cinema as a social means to bring in a difference. Truly enough most of her films like Fire, Bawander, Provoked and others raise social issues. Her powerhouse performance has won her accolades both in and outside India.

Apart from acting Nandita has even directed a movie Firaaq which had in its lead Naseeruddin Shah, Raghubir Yadav, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval, Sanjay Suri, Tisca Chopra, Shahana Goswami and Nowaz. The film won critical acclamation and honours all over.

Awards and Honours of Nandita Das
Nandita Das`outstanding talent has been duly rewarded with awards. She received the Best Actress Award at the Santa Monica Film Festival (2001) for Bawander, directed by Jagmohan Mundhra. She got the Special Prize for Kannathil Muthamittal at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards in 2002. She is the recipient of the Best Actress Award for performance in Amar Bhuvan at the Cairo Film Festival (2002) and the Zee Cine Award for Best Actress for the same. Nandita Das won the much coveted National Award for Telugu Film Kamli in Best Actress category as well as the Nandi Award in 2006. The actress won the prestigious Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France in 2008.

For her self directed film Firaaq she won the Best Film and Best Screenplay at Asian Festival of First Films, the Purple Orchid Award for Best Film at Asian Festival of First Films, the Special Jury Award at International Film Festival of Kerala and the Special Prize at International Thessaloniki Film Festival. It also got a nomination Golden Alexander at International Thessaloniki Film Festival.

Apart from films Das was also appointed as the chairperson of the Children`s Film Society of India in 2009 and served as a Member of the Jury at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography

Year Title
1989 Parinati
1996 Fire
1998 Earth, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Janmadinam, Biswaprakash
1999 Deveeri, Rockford, Punaradhivasam
2000 Hari-Bhari, Saanjh, Bawandar
2001 Aks, Daughters of the Century
2002 Aamaar Bhuvan, Kannaki, Pitaah, Azhagi, Kannathil Muthamittal, Lal Salaam
2003 Ek Alag Mausam, Bas Yun Hi, Supari, Shubho Mahurat, Kagaar: Life on the Edge, Ek Din 24 Ghante
2004 Vishwa Thulasi
2005 Fleeting Beauty
2006 Maati Maay, Podokkhep, Kamli
2007 Before the Rains, Provoked, Naalu Pennungal, Paani: A Drop of Life
2008 Ramchand Pakistani
2009 Before the Rains