
Mamata Shankar, an actress in the Bengali film industry, was born 7 January 1955. In addition to being an actress; she is a dancer and choreographer. Mamata Shankar is one of the most renowned performers in India, be it the field of acting or dance, she is probably the unmatched personality from Bengal who has created a different style of choreography and also acting around the nation.
Career Of Mamata Shankar
Mamata Shankar has achieved immense fame and an unrivalled status in the fields of dancing, choreography and acting. Mamata Shankar had her basic training in dance and choreography under the guidance of her mother, Amala Shankar, at the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre in Kolkata. Mamata Shankar followed the footsteps of her parents and created a new and rare style of choreography. She further improved it through her acute sense of innovation and modernisation. In a span of 29 years, Mamata Shankar has choreographed and performed several dance-dramas and short dance items on extensive contemporary and modern themes.
Mamata Shankar founded `Udayan,` a dance academy in 1986, which performs extensively throughout the world, along with The
Mamata Shankar Ballet Troupe. The troupe was founded in 1978, and performed its initial production, based on a
Rabindranath Tagore work, Chandalika, in 1979. Some of the other notables are "Kalmrigaya" "Horikhela", "Aajker Ekalabya", "Shikar", "Amritasya Putra", "Milap", "Prakriti", "Vasantotsav", and "Mother Earth".
Mamata Shankar, the head of `Udayan`, started with few of students which gradually kept growing. She has high aims for her institution. She strictly follows the style mastered by her father, Uday Shankar, which has the intrinsic grammar of
Indian Classical Dances and is still innovative, contemporary and not bound with rigid classicism. The graceful dance movements are merged with the vibrancy folk dances of India to reach a level of excellence. She teaches almost 1700 students in her dance school and manages three dancing centres within
Kolkata itself.
Mamata Shankar was honoured with several awards and recognitions from dance critics residing in foreign countries. She strictly follows her father`s teachings to be innovative in whatever, she does, Mamata Shankar tries to convey her thoughts in an easy way to the people through her dances, so that audiences of all age will enjoy and will realise the inherent message. Most of her dances aim at social awareness.
Through most of her acting career, Mamata Shankar has concentrated on art films or television serials; she has rarely appeared in the commercial film industry. She has acted in films by renowned film directors including,
Satyajit Ray,
Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghose, Buddhadev Dasgupta and Gautam Ghose. A few of her most appreciated films are, Mrigayaa, Dooratwa, Ek Din Pratidin, Grihajuddha, Shakha Proshakha, Agantuk, Utsab, The Bong Connection, Ballyganj Court.
Personal Life of Mamata Shankar
Mamata Shankar is the daughter of internationally famous dancers, Uday Shankar, and Amala Shankar. She is also the niece of Pandit
Ravi Shankar and the sister of
Ananda Shankar, a celebrated indo-western fusion musician. Mamata Shankar is married to Chandrodoy Ghosh.
Mamata Shankar prefers keeping her passion for dance and acting separate. Ratul Shankar, Mamata`s son, is an upcoming musician and an aspiring acting. The mother-son duo was cast in Rituporno Ghosh`s much acclaimed movie, Utsab. The Bengali TV serial ` Janmabhumi ` brought Mamata Shankar even closer to her viewers as her performance was much appreciated. She is one of the finest artists of Bengal who was selected as protagonist in the films of director like
Satyajit Ray and
Mrinal Sen. Her astonishing performances are considered as assets to the Bengali film industry.
(Last Updated on : 13/06/2011)