Debashree Roy also spelt, as Debosri Rae is one of the most famous actresses from Bengali Cinema. She was a regular face on both small screen and silver screen during the late 80`s and 90`s. She was considered as the top heroine for more than a decade. She has acted in nearly 100 films and has received more than 40 prestigious awards, including a National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Unishe April, co starring Aparna Sen in 1995. Debashree Roy is also the aunt of popular Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji.

Debashree Roy was born and brought up in Calcutta. She was fond of dancing from young age and thus took formal training in the performing art. She was also seen dancing on stage for several dance programmes in Calcutta and other places in Bengal. She did her debut in the film industry at a very young age, as a child actor in the movie `Balak Gadadhar` in 1969. Debashree Roy also acted in the role of a little girl in the thriller film `Kuheli`.

Debashree Roy is one of the most multi faceted artists to have emerged in the Bengali cinema in the early 1980s. Though this period did not have much entity in the commercial Bengali films, Debashree managed to stand above the broad-spectrum mediocrity and established her position as a thespian. She was both comfortable in commercial films as well as in the sophisticated films. Very soon, Debashree Roy became a director`s favorite cast.

Debashree Roy had a close connection with the show business from a very early age. She along with her sister formed a lovable duo performing filmy dances in shows organized in small towns and villages of West Bengal. This early brush introduction to the show-biz industry also helped her in getting roles as a child artiste in some Bengali productions. Swhe acted in Pagol Thakur (1968) and Balak Gadadhar (1969), which were two films based on the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. During this period, Debashree Roy was called Kumari Chumki at that time and often she was portrayed the saint in his childhood.

The director Tarun Majumdar gave young Debashree the opportunity to make her first appearance as an adult actress in the super-hit Dadar Kirti (1980). Then again she appeared as a heroine in the film `Nadi Theke Sagare` released in 1978. Since then Debashree was seen as a versatile artist in many films usually in lead roles. In 1981, she was featured in the Aparna Sen`s first directorial debut `36 Chowrangee Lane` which received great applause from all over the nation. In 1996, she was honored with the national award for best actress for her performance in Rituparno Ghosh`s film `Unishe April`.

Very soon, Debashree Roy was offered with more challenging roles both in the mainstream and offbeat films of the day. Tapas Pal and Debashree were treated as the principal romantic pair in Bengali commercial films during the 1980s. The pair had several popular films together, namely Parabat Priya (1983), Nishant (1985), Tarun Majumdar`s Bhalobasha Bhalobasha (1985) and Surer Sathi (1988). Some of Debashree Roy`s distinguished films include Aurobindo Mukherjee`s Nishi Bhor (1983), Dinen Gupta`s Sagar Balaka (1984), Ajoy Kar`s Bishobrikhsha (1984). Her films were mainly focused on famous novels. Debashree Roy worked with notable actors like Amol Palekar, Moushumi Chatterjee and Victor Bannerje.

The late 1980s was the period when Prosenjit Chatterjee rose as the heartthrob of the Bengali silver screen. Prasenjit and Debashree`s first film in lead roles was Prem Bandhan (1986). It was a typical romantic melodrama directed by Rathish De Sarkar. The film was a huge hit and eventually established the pair as the favorite of the masses. Ora Charjon (1988) and Chhokher Aloy (1989) was a love triangle plot that featured Debashree Roy. She solidified her position as one of the leading ladies of Bengali cinema.

Debashree Roy was also seen in popular films like Aparanher Alo, directed by the Agradoot group and Ahankaar (1991). She played the protagonist in Purushottam (1992). Very soon, the screen romance of Debashree Roy and Prasenjit was transformed into real life and the pair got married. Though the marriage did not last for long. However, even after the separation, the couple never shared any bitter relationship, rather during the interviews on the 25th anniversary of Prosenjit`s career in Bengali films, he graciously admitted that Debashree has been the best female actor he ever worked with.

Debashree Roy was not only a heroine in mainstream films, but has also shown her capabilities in the films made some of the critically admired and artistically superior filmmakers of the Bengali film industry. During the early days of her career, she stunned her audience as Aditi - the ex-student of Miss Violet Stoneham (Jennifer Kapoor in an exquisite performance) in Aparna Sen`s memorable first film 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981). However she became more involved with the offbeat and artistic films during the 1990s when her position in Bengali Film industry was well established.

Debashree Roy was also excellent in Rituparno`s film Asookh (1999) portraying the protagonist character Rohini. Debashree also did a very commendable performance as a working woman in Subrata Sen`s offbeat debut film Ek Je Acche Kanya (2000) which was also the first film of Konkona Sen Sharma, the daughter of Aparna Sen. In Gautam Ghosh`s innovative venture Dekha (2001), Debashree Roy won much critical acclaim of her performance in the role of a supportive daughter of a poet who gradually loses his vision (Soumitra Chatterjee).

In the 1990s, Debashree was flowing with her career doing meaningful roles in some of the better mainstream movies including Dinen Gupta`s Nati Binodini (1994), where she offered a superb performance as the renowned theatre actor of the 19th century who gave up her luxurious life under the spiritual guidance of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Some of her other commercially successful movies include Prabhat Roy`s Sandhya Tara (1994) and Lathi (1996), Mrinmoy Chakraborty`s Cinemay Jemon Hoy (1994) and Bhoy (1996).

During her initial days, Debashree Roy tried a few times to enter Bollywood with the films like Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981), Phulwari (1984) and Kabhi Ajnabhi The (1985) - all of which received moderate recognition. One of her brilliant non-Bengali films has been by the Assamese director Bhaben Saikia`s Trisandhya (2000) where she played the role of a housewife troubled with a loveless marriage. More recently she was seen as Mithun Chakraborty`s wife in the super-hit MLA Phatakesto (2005) and also Mithun`s latest film Tiger (2007). Once again Debashree Roy has shown her talent in the challenging role of a sex-worker with a kind heart in Nilanjan Bhattacharya`s first film Lal Ronger Duniya.

Debashree is also a very proficient and trained dancer-choreographer, and designs innovative dance programs with her troupe Nataraj. This dance group is a known name in both India and abroad. With over 130 films in her kitty, Debashree Roy has been able to establish herself as one of the most powerful women of the Bengali cinema and is widely respected for her talents and professionalism.

Selected Filmography of Debashree Roy

Film	Year	Film	Year
Dadar Kirti	1980	Unishe April	1994
36 Chowringhee Lane	1981	Asukh	1999
Jiyo To Aise Jiyo	1981	Ek Je Aachhe Kanya	2000
Bishabriksha	1983	Dekha	2001
Phulwari	1984	Abaidha	2002
Kabhi Ajnabi The	1985	Antarghaat	2002
Aparanher Alo	1989	Mahabharat TV Series as Satyavati.