It is a very surprising that an actor as gifted as Suhasini Mulay is getting recognition so late in her career. She had her first brush in acting in the year 1969 when the renowned filmmaker Mrinal Sen casted her in his path-breaking film called `Bhuvan Shome`. That time the actress was in her tender age of 16 but irrespective of age she won the National Award for her powerhouse performance in that movie. Following that she had to wait for a span of 30 long years before she could cast the spell of her acting talent again on the silver screen audiences in the Bollywood chartbuster `Hu Tu Tu` by Gulzar. This particular role also fetched her the National Award for the best supporting role of an ordinary schoolteacher rising the post of a Chief-Minister.
Very few people know that she is a graduate in agriculture technology from the McGill University in Montreal. She is regarded as a tireless filmmaker and has made over 60 documentaries. Suhasini Mulay is such a modest person by heart that she still does not consider herself a good actress inspite of the brush with immense success she had in her life. She remarks, "I am still on the learning curve of acting". She also manages to maintain the fulsome praise that she received for her performance in `Bhuvan`. She also reminisces her mistake in that movie when she had gone to attend the Venice Film Festival. The film altogether dealt on the honest and upright Bengali railway officer named Bhuvan Shome, played by the legendary actor Utpal Dutt. She had made all her critics stunned with the splendid performance meted out by her. She also recalls the experience as very cherishing as she was fortunate enough to act beside one of the most gifted actors of Bengali theater and cinema. She is however grateful to both Utpal Dutt and Mrinal Sen for bringing out the best in her. She also considers two of them her professional gurus. The acting genius late Utpal Dutt also introduced her to the works of the great playwrights like Henrik Ibsen, Bertolt Brecht and George Bernard Shaw.
This great actor was born in Patna and she also spent the early part of her childhood there. She was brought up by her mother simglehandedly as her father expired when she was three years old. Her mother Vijaya Mulay worked in the Ministry of Education and later on became the founding member of the Film Society of India and is still actively involved in films. She moreover got fascinated to the medium due to his mother`s interest in films. She also did not receive any formal training in acting. In the year 1965 she was chosen by Pears Soap to be its model. In fact it was this ad campaign, which also got her the role in `Bhuvan Shome`. After completing her degree she signed up for a course in Mass Communication and majored in film, radio, TV, journalism from the same university. Suhasini then returned to India in the year 1975 and was picked up as an assistant by the eminent filmmaker Satyajit Ray to join the Bengali movie `Jana Aranya`. In the following times she then went back to Mrinal Sen as an assistant director in `Mrigaya`. The fact that John Grierson, the persona who coined the term `documentary` had left an imdelible mark in her mind is quite evident from her desire to go back and make meaningful films.
Suhasini Mulay claims that a film must portray reality. According to her it must have a lyrical representation or a personal interpretation of an event, which is even a total figment of imagination but it, should also be rooted in reality. She made over 60 documentaries, among which four of them have won National Awards. She has also made a mark with her splendid performances in the small screen dailies and weeklies like `Piya Ka Ghar` on Zee Television and `Viraasat` on Sahara. She has also appeared in the Bollywood blockbusters like `Lagaan`, `Dil Chahta Hai`, `Kuch Na Kaho` and `Humraaz`. It is expected that such a talented actress will surely add some more feathers in her cap in the approaching times before she takes the final break from her career. Here is wishing the actress all the best for her future.
