Beauty, grace and talent are apt to define the Bengali actresses. For the past several years the Bengali actresses have enriched Bengali films with their performances. With time the themes of these films have definitely altered but there seems to be no dearth of talent as far as the Bengali film personalities are concerned. Bengali actresses such as Kanan Debi, Arundhuti Devi and Molina Devi are some of the earliest performers who graced the Bengali film screens. Their serene presence and beautiful handling of the scripts has made them worth while.

Kanan Devi:
She is the pioneer of all Bengali film actresses. She acted first in the silent film Jaidev in 1926. In 1931 she became heroine in Jorbarat. She got Dada Saheb Falke Award in 1976.

Arundhuti Devi:
Her debutant film was Mahaprashthaner Pathey in 1952. Arundhati Devi executed the role of Rani, a young widow, who feels love a young Bramhachari. After them a number of female actors followed who helped the film industry reach greater heights.

Sabitri Chatterjee:
She is perhaps one of the most versatile actors in Bengal. Whether it was comedy or a melodrama she could emote with ease. Her spontaneous acting, versatility and charming personality, not to mention the powerful performances, made her a household name. Her first released film was Pasher Bari in 19652. Her films include Brajabuli, Kal Tumi Aleya, Bhranti Bilas, Dui Bhai, Marutirtha Hinglaj, Tasher Ghar, Nabojanma, Champadangar Bou and others. She got Life time Achievement award three years ago which was given by Bengal Film Journalist Association.

Suchitra Sen:
This is the name that sets a legendary body in the Bengali Film industry. She is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and evergreen female stars that Bengali cinema has ever seen. She is the first Indian actress to get the International Film Festival Award. She won the Best Actress award for the movie Saat Paake Bnadha in 1963 Moscow film festival. She with Uttamkumar created an enduring romantic duo with sparkling screen magic in Bengali cinema. Apart from the films with Uttam Kumar she has also acted in films such as Hospital, Uttar Falguni, and others. Her career best performance was in Dweep Jele Jayi. She was the reigning queen in the Bengali film industry with an amazing screen presence and outstanding performance.

Madhavi Mukherjee:
She is also an outstanding actress in Bengali film industry. She started acting as a child artist. She made her debut in Premendra Mitra`s Kankantala Light Railway (1950). She first acted in alead female role in Tapan Sinha`s Tonsil (1956). She devoted much on Baishe Shravon (1960), Kapurush (1965),Chhadmabesi(1971), Antardhan(1992), Utsab(2000) and many others.

Deboshree Roy:
She first appeared as a child artist in Balak Gadadhar in 1969. She became heroine in the film Nadi Theke Sagare in 1981. In 1996 she won the Best Actress Award in National Film Festival for the film Unishe April. She did marvellous job in Asukh (1999) and in Dekha (2001).

Rituparna Sengupta:
She is the most contemporary and versatile actress of Bengali film. Her first film was Swet Pathrer Thala by Pravat Roy. She did wonderful job both in commercial and art movies. She got national award for Best Actress for her role in Dahan. She should be remembered for her spontaneous acting in Utsav (2000), Alo (2003), Anuranan (2007).

Indrani Halder:
She was quite familiar for her performance in the serial Teroparbon. Her first film appearance was in Mandira(1990). She has proven herself in both lead and character roles. She also got National Award for Best Actress for the film Dahan.

Other Bengali actresses include the following:

Anubha Gupta	Mithu Mukherjee	Nandita Das	Samata Das
Chhaya Devi	Sharmila Tagore	Rituparna Sengupta	Raima Sen
Geeta Dey	Rakhee	Shatabdi Roy	Rita Koiral
Kanan Debi	Jaya Bachchan	Ruma Guha Thakurta	Gargi Roy Choudhury
Manju Dey	Mahua Roy Chaudhury	Sreelekha Mitra	Locket Chatterjee
Sandhya Roy	Debashree Roy	Konkona Sen Sharma	Koel Mullick
Lily Chakraborty	Indrani Haldar	Rachana Bannerjee	Swastika Chatterjee
Karuna Bannerjee	Jyotsna Gupta	Arpita Pal	Churni Ganguly
Kaberi Basu	Labani Sarkar	Anu Chowdhury	Koneenica Bannerjee
Tanuja	Rupa Ganguly	Chandrayee Ghosh	Shonali Chakraborty
Supriya Devi	Mamata Shankar	Sreelekha Mitra	June Malia
Madhabi Mukherjee	Moon Moon Sen	Sreela Majumdar	Priyanka Sarkar
Aparna Sen	Moushumi Chatterjee	Sanghamitra	Srabanti