Dream girl’s Pabna ancestral home stands derelict

PABNA, Sept 24: The ancestral house of legendary Bangla film actress Suchitra Sen at Gopalpur Himsagor Lane in Pabna town has been lying in a ramshackle state for a long time.

Built on 36 decimals of land, the house, where the actress had her childhood, consists of three tin-shed rooms, one drawing room and a dining room.

The house which had remained under control of local influential people for decades was retrieved by the district administration in 2014, following a Supreme Court order.

Now it has started losing attraction to the tourists because of the dilapidated condition.

Suchitra Sen

Suchitra Sen, for the emotive verve of her acting and the phenomenal charm of her beauty, caught the attention of many, becoming one of the most endeared stars of the Bangla film industry.  She was an independent strong woman in her personal life too.

Most probably she moved to Panba from India in 1945 as per the wish of her father where she studied at Pabna Government Girl School in class nine; and her family came back to India from Pabna after the retirement of her father.

Afterwards, the house was used as Imam Gajjali School under the supervision of former lawmaker Abdus Sobhan. The school continued to operate in the house for four decades without authorisation.

The actress's used clothes, comb, mirror, furniture and other objects got lost during the period the school operated there.

A visitor, Tapon Kumar Barmon, said, if the government had set up a museum there to keep up the memories of the prominent actress, the number of visitors would have risen many times.

The culture lovers from home and abroad consider the historical place as a great source of recreation for them, he added.

He urged the authorities concerned to take initiative to bring back the house's lost glory.

Suchitra Sen was born at Gopalganj Himsagor under sadar upazila of Pabna district on April 6, 1931.

Her father Karunamoy Das Gupta was the headmaster of a local school and mother Indira Devi was a housewife. She was the fifth child of the family and the third daughter. She was also the granddaughter of poet Rajini Kanth Sen.

Suchrita Sen was married to Debinath Sen, son of prominent industrialist Adinath Sen, in 1947 according to a family decision. Later, she entered the Bangla film arena in 1952.

She acted as heroin in 61 films, of which six are Hindi and the rest are Bangla.

She received the highest accolade Bangabhushan, from the West Bengal government, in 2012.

Suchitra made her debut in the filmdom with the movie, Sare Chuattur, in 1953.

She worked with Mohanayak Uttam Kumar in over 25 films, including the classics, Sagorika, Harano Sur and Saptapadi.

The government of India conferred Padma Shree award on her in 1972.

The Mohanayika (Suchitra Sen), 82, died on January 27, in 2014.

A good number of people still visit the house of Suchitra Sen, paying respects to her memories.

Deputy Commissioner Kabir Mahmud said to perpetuate the memories of the legendary actress, the government has taken an initiative to renovate her house.

The renovation work is likely to start next month, he added.

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