Sumita Devi

Sumita Devi (Bengali: সুমিতা দেবী) (born Hena Bhattacharya) also known as Nilufar Begum (February 2, 1936 - January 6, 2004) was a Bangladeshi actress.^[1] In 45 years of her career, she acted in around 200 films and 150 radio and television dramas.^[2] She was an artist at the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra in 1971.^[3]

Sumita Devi
Born	Hena Bhattacharya (1936-02-02)2 February 1936 Manikganj District, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	6 January 2004(2004-01-06) (aged 67) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Other names	Nilufar Begum
Occupation(s)	Actress, filmmaker
Spouses	Amulya Lahiri Zahir Raihan ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1968)​

Early life and career

Devi was born in Manikganj District in the then Bengal Presidency.^[1] She moved with her parents, first to Dhaka in 1944, then to Calcutta in 1951.^[4] She debuted her acting in the film Asiya (1960).^[1] She was the first actress of the then East Pakistan to act in the film Dhupchhaya produced in West Pakistan.^[2] Later she produced five films.^[1]

Works

Actress

• Akash Aar Mati (1959)^[5]
• Ei Desh Tomar Amar (1959)^[6]
• Matir Pahar (1959)
• Asiya (1960)
• Kakhono Asheni (1961)
• Kancher Deyal (1963)^[7]
• Sonar Kajal (1962)
• Ei To Jiban (1964)
• Dui Diganta (1964)
• Sangam (1964)
• Behula (1966)
• Agun Niye Khela (1967)
• Abhishap (1967)
• Ora Egaro Jon (1972)^[1]
• Amar Janma Bhumi^[2]

Producer

• Agun Niye Khela (1967)
• Momer Alo (1968)
• Mayar Sangsar (1969)
• Adarsha Chapakhana (1970)
• Notun Probhat (1970)^[1]

Personal life and death

Devi's first marriage to Amulya Lahiri was short.^[1] Later she married filmmaker Zahir Raihan in 1962. Upon marriage she converted to Islam and took the name Nilufar Begum. With Raihan, she had two sons, Anal and Bipul.^[8][9] She had another son and a daughter.^[3] After the disappearance of Raihan in 1972, the government allotted an abandoned house on 7.5 kathas in Mohammadpur Thana to Devi.^[8]

Devi died from a brain haemorrhage on 6 January 2004 at Bangladesh Medical Hospital in Dhaka. Both her kidneys and liver had been malfunctioning before she was admitted to the hospital. She had been in a coma since her treatment began.^[2]

Awards

Devi in the film Kancher Deyal (1963)

• All Pakistan Critic Award (1962)
• Nigar Award for Best Supporting Actress (1964)
• Bangladesh Film Journalist Association Award
• Television Reporters Association of Bangladesh Award
• Agartala Muktijoddha Award (2002)
• Janakantha Gunijan and Pratibha Sammanona (2002)^[10]