Mamata Shankar

Mamata Shankar (2002)

Mamata Shankar (born January 7, 1955 in Calcutta ) is an Indian actress, dancer and choreographer.

Life

Born as the daughter of the dancer Uday Shankar and the dancer Amala Shankar , she received her training in dance and choreography at her parents' "Uday Shankar India Culture Center". She is the niece of Pandit Ravi Shankar , the sister of the musician Ananda Shankar, married to Chandrodoy Ghosh and mother of two sons: Ratul Shankar, born in 1979 and Rajit Shankar, born in 1989. She made her film debut with Mrigayaa in 1976, directed by Mrinal Sen . The feature film won the National Film Award for best film of the year. She played leading and key roles in many other movies by famous Indian directors, including in the TV soap opera Titir Atithi , directed by the Bengali »Tollywood Star«, the director Jishu Dasgupta . In 1978 she founded her own dance group “Mamata Shankar Ballet Troupe” and her dance school “Udayan” in 1986. Under the name “Mamata Shankar Dance Company”, she and her troupe appear worldwide with various in-house productions that she has choreographed.

Filmography

• 1976: The Royal Hunt (Mrigayaa) - Director: Mrinal Sen
• 1977: Oka Oori Katha - Director: Mrinal Sen
• 1978: Balidan - Director: Prashant Nanda
• 1978: Dooratwa - Director: Buddhadeb Dasgupta
• 1979: An Ordinary Day (Ek Din Pratidin) - Director: Mrinal Sen
• 1982: Kharij - Director: Mrinal Sen
• 1982: Grihajuddha - Director: Buddhadeb Dasgupta
• 1982: Dakhal - Director: Goutam Ghose
• 1988: Dhrishtidan - Director: Bijoy Chatterjee
• 1989: Ganashatru (Ganashatru) - Director: Satyajit Ray
• 1991: A Tree and Its Branches (Shakha Proshakha) - Director: Satyajit Ray
• 1991: Agantuk - The Visitor (Agantuk) - Director: Satyajit Ray
• 1993: Sunya Theke Suru - Director: Ashoke Viswanathan
• 1994: Sopan - Director: Ajay Bannerjee
• 1997: Dahan - Director: Rituparno Ghosh
• 2000: Utsab - Director: Rituparno Ghosh
• 2006: The Bong Connection - Director: Anjan Dutt
• 2006: Samudra Sakshi - Director: Rituparno Ghosh
• 2007: Ballyganj Court - Director: Pinaki Chowdhury
• 2010: Abohoman - Director: Rituparno Ghosh
• 2011: Jaani Dyakha Hawbe - Director: Anjan Dutt

Dance productions

• Chandalika - based on poems by Rabindranath Tagore
• Horikhela
• Aajker Ekalabya
• Milap
• Shikar
• Vasantotsav
• Prakriti
• Kalmrigaya & Mother Earth
• Amritasya Putra

Awards

• 1984 Filmfare Award (for best actress in Dakhal )
• 1992 Special Jury Award for Agantuk

literature

• Mohan Khokar: His Dance, His Life. A Portrait of Uday Shankar . Himalayan Books, 1983.

Web links

• Official homepage of Mamata Shankar
• Mamata Shankar in theInternet Movie Database(English)