Riya Sen (Bengali: রিয়া সেন IPA: [ria ʃen] ITRANS:riYA sen) (born Riya Dev Burman in Kolkata, India on January 24, 1981) is an Indian film actress and model. She is often regarded as a sex symbol. Coming from a family of actors including her grandmother Suchitra Sen, mother Moonmoon Sen and sister Raima Sen, she started her career in 1991 as a child artiste in the film Vishkanya. Her father Bharat Dev Varma belongs to the royal family of Tripura. As a model she had been featured on some of the top music videos, television commercials, fashion shows and magazine covers. Her biggest film successes include Style by N. Chandra and Ananthabhadram by Santhosh Sivan. She faced controversies around an intimate MMS clip with actor Ashmit Patel, as well as her appearance on photographer Dabboo Ratnani's calender.

Acting career

Riya Sen first appeared as a child artiste in the film Vishkanya, where she played the role of the young Pooja Bedi. At the age of 15 she was cast in a major role in Bharathiraaja's Tamil film Tajmahal, which did not achieve a box-office success.^[1] Her Bollywood film debut was supposed to have been in Love You Hamesha, opposite Akshaye Khanna, but the film was stalled and she ultimately made her debut in N. Chandra's low-budget comedy Style.^[2]

Though Style met with success at the box office, most of her other films have not done as well,^[3][4] while some remained unfinished. Many of her appearances have been item numbers and cameos.^[5][6][7] Her few leading roles have been in low-budget films.^[8] Her screen persona made her a sex symbol in India.^[9][10] Despite Indian sentiments against bikinis and kissing on screen^[11][12] and her one time stand against wearing a bikini and casual kissing,^[13][14] Riya has worn a bikini in Shaadi No. 1^[15][16] and shared on-screen kisses with her co-stars Ashmit Patel in Silsiilay and Sharman joshi in Style. Her item number featuring a bubble-bath in Qayamat: City Under Threat has also drawn attention, though her role was small in the film.^[17][18]

Her major success was Jhankaar Beats, the surprise hit of 2003.^[19] The film was produced by Pritish Nandy, publishing director of The Times of India and a media mogul, directed by debutant director Sujoy Ghosh, and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox (India).^[20] Made on budget of Rupees 25 million,^[20] it was the sixth in a row of small to medium budget films made by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) and its first commercial success.^[21] Part of a wave of offbeat films made that mostly failed to make waves at the box office,^[22][23] this comedy revolved around the music of RD Burman. Riya was cast in a small and glamorous role^[9] along with Shayan Munshi, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna and Sanjay Suri. It also was one for the first films made in Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English.^[24][25]

Riya has also appeared in Bengali,Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and even English films. Her first English film was It Was Raining That Night, scripted by Sudeshna Roy and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. A remake of the Bengali film Hei Brishtir Raat, it also featured her mother Moon Moon.^[26] She was slated to appear in Anjan Dutta's The Bong Connection, with her sister Raima. But she was eventually dropped from the project and replaced by Peeya Rai Chaudhary.^[27][28] The two sisters were also cast together in director Ajai Sinha's The Bachelor, a film that remains to be finished.^[29]

Her most notable South Indian film has been director Santhosh Sivan's Ananthabhadram, which was also the director's first Malayalam venture. During the filming of Shaadi No. 1, she was hit by a motorbike, and supposedly had a near death experience.^[30] The sequence between Manoj K Jayan using Riya Sen as a channel for black magic, choreographed by Aparna Sindoor, the dance director of the film, uses Kathakali movements in particular,^[31][32] which has been an inspiration for major Indian films^[33] like director Shaji Karun's Vanaprastham (1999)^[34] and director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair (2005).^[35]

Modeling career

Riya became a popular model when she appeared in numerous music videos for songs by popular singers, including Asha Bhonsle (Jhumka Gira Re), Falguni Pathak (Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi or Chudi jo khanki), Jagjit Singh and Asha Bhonsle (Jab Samne Tum, Kahin Kahin Se), Sonu Nigam (Jeena Hai Tere Liye), and Shaan (Sutta Maro). She shot for her first music video - Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi - at the age of 16.^[36][37] She was one of many Bollywood stars who appeared in Haath Se Haath Mila an anti-HIV/AIDS music video.^[38]

Riya has appeared on the cover of a number of magazines, including Femina, Elaan^[39], Man's World^[40], Gladrags, Savvy and Indian versions of Elle, Maxim and Cosmopolitan^[41], as well as on the ramp of a major fashion shows, including Lakmé Fashion Week (2005-07) and Wills Fashion Week (2006-2007). She has participated in fashion shows together with her sister Raima.^[42]

Riya is a leading advertising model in India. A high point of her modeling career was when she replaced Lisa Ray as the Lakmé Girl, but she has since been replaced by Yana Gupta. Her other notable assignments include Colgate, Limca, Vatika, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Nirma and Margarita King. She made charity appearances at McDonald's India to raise money for paediatric eye-care in World Children's Week (November 14—November 20), 2003.^[43]

In 2004, she was featured partially nude in leading Indian photographer Dabboo Ratnani's^[44] annual calendar, which is a major happening in the Indian glamor industry.^[45] In Daboo's words, "Her mother saw it much later, after the calendar released. She thought it was too sexy, and Riya shouldn't have done it. But the response to the photograph was superb. Riya was so thrilled that for her next ad campaign, she asked me to light her up like I did in this."^[46] A career highlight for the model,^[47] it led to a three year contract with Ratnani to feature her on his annual calendar.^[48] She is the only female face to be featured on the calendar on five consecutive years (2003-07).^[49][50] She was the 9th name on the list of Femina 50 Most Beautiful Women covered in the magazine's September 2007 issue. She also was a jury for the 2008 Mr. India Final.^[51]

Personal life and family

Riya Sen is the grand daughter of Suchitra Sen, a legend in Bengali cinema, ^[52] and daughter of Moonmoon Sen, a former actress.^[3][53] Before moving to Mumbai, she lived with her parents and sister Raima Sen, also an actress, in Kolkata. Her father Bharat Dev Varma belongs to the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, whose younger sister Gayatri Devi is the Maharani of Jaipur.^[54] Before entering show business, she studied at Loreto House and Rani Birla College, both in Kolkata, but dropped out of both institutions.^[54] She also briefly studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology.^[55] She is trained in Kathak and kickboxing,^[9] and also took lessons in belly dancing.^[56] Since her Bollywood debut, she has moved from Kolkata to Juhu in Mumbai. Many have commented on the strong resemblance in public image between her and her mother,^[57] Moonmoon Sen, a sex symbol^[58] in her time. However, her sister Raima has a very different image from them both,^[59] and is reportedly closer to her grandmother, Suchitra Sen, whom she resembles in looks.^[53] This comparison by poplar media has been acknowledged by Raima in interviews, who is reported to have worked for substantial roles than her sister.^[42][60][61]

Shortly before the release of her film Silsiilay in which Riya Sen starred with boyfriend Ashmit Patel, a 90-second video clip was circulated through Multimedia Messaging Services and the Internet, that showed the two in intimate situations.^[42][62] This was one of a number of such controversies that erupted where celebrities were caught in compromising situations using cameraphones.^[63][64] Shortly after this incident, the couple split up.^[65][66] The actress has however denied that it was her in the MMS clip,^[64] which was alleged as a publicity move.^[67]

Filmography

Feature films

References

See also

Template:IndicText

• List of Indian movie actresses
• List of Bollywood Clans: The Sens
• Sex in Indian entertainment

External links

• Riya Sen at IMDb
• Interview with Riya Sen in The Telegraph
• Riya and Raima compared in The Telegraph
• Riya Sen on her mother in Hindustan Times