Wanted to make documentary on Suchitra, she didn't agree: Aparna Sen

Kolkata: To reveal the mystery surrounding Suchitra Sen’s mysterious disappearance from public life, director Aparna Sen wanted to make a documentary on her life but was turned down. “I had wanted to make a documentary on her life but she didn’t agree to it as we all know that she was against coming in public,” said the National Award winning film director.  Sen said she was intrigued by her enigmatic personality so much that she came up with the idea but was disappointed when the offer was turned down. “I had met her only once during the shooting of ‘Uttar Falguni’. I have grown up seeing her films and she was a huge influence,” said Aparna. Mourning the death of the 82-year-old Sen who passed away after a heart attack, she said with her an era in the film industry came to an end. Sen has often been compared to Hollywood legend Greta Garbo for being a recluse as since 1978 only a handful of people have seen her face-to-face. After her 1978 movie ‘Pronoy Pasha’ with actor Soumitra Chatterjee flopped, she disappeared from the public eye and even refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005 so that she did not have to make a public appearance. Sen used to stay confined to her south Kolkata apartment and hardly anyone outside her close circuit had seen the enigmatic actress in the last three decades. Few days ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee became the first public personality to have met her when she was in the hospital. Old-timers recall that when Bharat Maharaj of the Ramakrishna Mission passed away in 1989, she had walked barefoot at Belur Math, near Kolkata. Her reason for withdrawal from public life, however, remains a mystery. PTI