Sova Sen

Sova Sen is a well known name in the area of Bengali theatre. Born in 1923 she started her career in the Indian People`s Theatre Association (IPTA) production of Nabanna or `New Harvest` in 1944. She soon came to prominence through her natural yet powerful acting without any touch of staginess, and had to forget her earlier ambition to become a doctor as well as her life as an ordinary housewife. At the beginning, she acted only in shows by IPTA and kindred groups, such as Ritwik Ghatak`s Dalil or `Document` in 1951 and Dinabandhu Mitra`s Nildarpan in 1952. Her realistic performances in important films like Paribartan i.e. `Transformation` in 1949, Chhinnamul i.e. `Uprooted` in 1950, Babla in 1951, and Nagarik i.e. `Citizen` in 1952 brought her out of the IPTA circuit.

The next phase of her career involved Utpal Dutt`s Little Theatre Group, where she was chosen as the versatile female lead for plays like Shakespeare`s Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Othello, A Midsummer Night`s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, etc. All of them were translated. She also acted in Michael Madhusudan Dutt`s Buro shalikerghare ron or `Mane on the Old Myna`s Neck`, Girish Ghosh`s Sirajuddaula, Rabindranath Tagore`s Tapati, Jyotirindranath Tagore`s Alik Babu, and a series of Utpal Dutt`s own works. The names be mentioned as Angar i.e. `Coal` in 1959, Pherariphauj i.e. `Absconding Army` in 1961, Titas ekti nadir nam or `Titas Is a River`s Name` dramatized from Adwaita Mallabarman`s novel in 1963, Kallol i.e. `Waves` in 1965, Tir i.e. `Arrow` in 1967, Manusheradbikare or `Of People`s Rights`, etc.

Sova Sen married Utpal Dutt in 1961. This was her second marriage. From here on she was his devoted lieutenant. After he formed People`s Little Theatre (PLT) in 1969, she recorded excellent performances in his Surja Shikar i.e. `Hunting the Sun`, Tiner Taloyar i.e. `Tin Sword`, Lenin Kothay i.e. `Where`s Lenin`, Stalin 1934, and Maloparar ma i.e. `Mother of the Malo Neighbourhood`. She also acted in his Jatra productions like Rifle in 1968, and in over 150 movies. After Utpal Dutt`s death, she supervises the PLT, and is the managing trustee of the Utpal Dutt Foundation of International Theatre Studies.