Suchitra Sen ( ; born as Roma Dasgupta (; 6 April 1931 – 17 January 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. Sen was the first Indian actress to receive an award at an international film festival when, at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, she won the Silver Prize for Best Actress for Saat Pake Bandha. In 1972, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. From 1979 on, she retreated from public life and shunned all forms of public contact; for this she is often compared to Greta Garbo. In 2005, she refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic award in India, to stay out of the public eye. In 2012, she was conferred the West Bengal Government's highest honour: Banga Bibhushan. Her first official release was Sukumar Dasgupta's Saat Number Kayedi (1953). She was catapulted to stardom after she was cast as Vishnupriya by Devaki Kumar Bose in his Bhagaban Shree Krishna Chaitanya (1953). Personal life and education Suchitra Sen was born on 6 April 1931, in a Bengali Baidya-brahmin family of Bhanga Bari village of Belkuchi Upazila, now in Sirajganj District. Her father, Korunamoy Dasgupta was a headmaster in a local school in Pabna. Her mother, Indira Devi was a homemaker. Sen was their fifth child and second daughter. She was a granddaughter of the poet Rajonikant Sen. She received her formal education in Pabna Government Girls High School. The violence of Partition in 1947 brought her family to West Bengal, which was comparably a safe zone for Hindus. Here she married Dibanath Sen, son of wealthy industrialist Adinath Sen, in 1947, at the age of 15 years. She had one daughter, Moon Moon Sen, who is a former actress. Suchitra's father-in-law, Adinath Sen, was supportive of her acting career in films after her marriage. Her industrialist husband invested greatly in her career and supported her. Sen had made a successful entry into Bengali films in 1952, and then a less successful transition into the Hindi movie industry. According to persistent but unconfirmed reports in the Bengali press, her marriage was strained by her success in the film industry. Career Suchitra Sen made her debut in films with Shesh Kothaay in 1952, but it was never released.