Tenth Annual MIAAC Film Festival - November 10-14, 2010

Konkona Sen Sharma was born on December 3,1979, is a two-time National Award-winning Indian actress. She is the daughter of film director Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.

Making her debut as a child artist in the film Indira (1983), Sharma debuted as an adult in the Bengali thriller Ek Je Aachhe Kanya (2000). She first gained attention with the English-language film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), which was directed by her mother, and received the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. Her appearance in the drama Page 3 (2005) got her wider recognition from audiences, and she has since starred in a number of films, most of which have garnered her critical praise rather than commercial success. She won two consecutive Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards for her performances in Omkara (2006) and Life in a... Metro (2007), respectively. Her performance in the former won her a second National Award under the Best Supporting Actress category.

Early life

Konkona is the daughter of Mukul Sharma (a science writer and journalist) and Aparna Sen (an actress and film director). She also has an older sibling Kamalini Chatterjee. Konkona's maternal grandfather, Chidananda Dasgupta, is a film critic, scholar, professor, writer and one of the co-founders of the Calcutta Film Society. Her grandmother Supriya Dasgupta is a cousin of legendary modern Bengali poet Jibanananda Das.

Konkona has a degree in English from St. Stephen's College, Delhi which she received in 2001. She was a student of the Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta, as well as the Calcutta International School.

Career

Early work, until 2005

Konkona made her debut as a child artist in the film Indira. In 2000, she made her adult debut in Bengali film Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, in which she played a negative character. It was followed by a role in Rituporno Ghosh's acclaimed film Titli, opposite her mother Aparna Sen.

Konkona as Meenakshi Iyer in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, which earned her National Film Award for Best ActressShe became a known face when she starred in the film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, directed by Aparna Sen. The film was a success in multiplexes and was a favourite with the critics. Konkona's performance as a Tamil housewife in this movie got her the National Film Award for Best Actress. This was followed by the critically acclaimed film, Page 3 (2005), though the film was an average performer at the box office. Her role drew a lot of praise and she became a more familiar face to the movie-going public. She won the Zee Cine Award Best Female Debut for this performance, which was her first act in commercial cinema.

Success (2005–present)

She followed it up with even more acclaimed performances in 15 Park Avenue (2005) and Omkara (2006). For the latter, she received the both Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her next release Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante (2006) got average reviews.

Following this, Konkona acted in Dosar, a highly acclaimed Bengali film by Rituporno Ghosh, which premiered at several international film festivals. She won the best actress award at Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival for this film.

Konkona as Indu Tyagi in Omkara (2006) which earned the actress her first Filmfare Award as well as second National Award both in supporting category.Her first release of 2007, Traffic Signal (2007) performed poorly at the box office, but she received good reviews for her performance. Her second released film of 2007, Life in a... Metro, was released to good reviews and emerged as a hit in India. Her performance as a confused girl was praised and she won her second Filmfare Award for this performance.

In late 2007, Konkona acted in two movies under Yash Raj Films banner. In the first one, Pradeep Sarkar's drama Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, she portrayed the character of a Banaras small town young woman, Chutki alongside Rani Mukherji. The film was a critical and commercial failure in India, even though her performance was highly praised. The second one was Aaja Nachle: the comeback film of Madhuri Dixit. This film did not do well at box office but Konkona got good reviews for her tomboy looks and performances in the film. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN noted,"Konkona Sen Sharma is nothing short of fantastic. Her greatest strength is that she isn't afraid of making a fool of herself and she doesn't worry about being laughed at. As a result, her performance in Aaja Nachle is fearless and uninhibited.

In 2008, Konkona stared in Dil Kabaddi, which was a flop. Moreover, Konkona also stared in a short film (‘How Can It Be?’) directed by Mira Nair for a movie project called 8, which screened at Rome Film Festival and Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival (MIAAC), 2008.

In 2009, there followed by low-budget English film The President Is Coming , directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur, which opened to generally positive reviews. Again, reviews were favorably directed towards her. Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India wrote, "Performance-wise, it's the uptight and complex-ridden Ms Konkona who walks away with laurels and laughs even as the film takes a healthy snigger at the desi self.

Her latest release is Zoya Akhtar's Luck by Chance, which is a critically acclaimed film, where she stared opposite Farhan Akhtar. She also has completed shooting for Rituparno Ghosh's comedy film Sunglass. Other confirmed future releases include Neeraj Pathak's Right or Wrong , Karan Johar's next production; Wake up Sid, Aparna Sen's Goinar Baksho, and Vinay Shukla's Mirch. Moreover, she will play a small but vital part in Mira Nair's Shantaram.

Personal life

Konkona with boyfriend Ranvir Shorey at the 53rd Annual Filmfare Awards (2008).Konkona is in a relationship with actor Ranvir Shorey. In July 2008, Aparna Sen confirmed that Konkona was engaged to Ranvir Shorey.

In the media

In 2005, Konkona was ranked 11th on Rediff's "Top Bollywood Female Stars. She was later ranked 9th in 2006.

Konkona has made three appearances on Karan Johar's talk show Koffee with Karan. She appeared with her Mr. and Mrs. Iyer co-star Rahul Bose in 2004, and later on along with Kunal Kapoor and Ritesh Deshmukh. In 2007, she hosted a programme called My Brilliant Brain, which aired on National Geographic Channel.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes and Awards

1983 Indira Child artist

1989 Picnic Daughter TV

1994 Amodini Teenage stepmother

2000 Ek Je Aachhe Kanya Ria

2002 Titli Titli

2002 Mr. and Mrs. Iyer Meenakshi Iyer Winner, National Film Award for Best Actress

2004 Chai Pani Etc. Shanti/Radha Joshi

2005 Amu Kaju "Amu"

2005 Page 3 Madhvi Sharma

2005 15 Park Avenue Mithi

2006 Dosar Kaberi Chatterjee

2006 Mixed Doubles Malti

2006 Yun Hota To Kya Hota Tilottima Punj

2006 Omkara Indu Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award

Winner , National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress

2006 Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante Sanjana

2006 Karkat Rashi College girl TV

2007 Traffic Signal Noori

2007 Life in a... Metro Shruti Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award

2007 Laaga Chunari Mein Daag Chutki (Shubhavari Sahay) Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award

2007 Aaja Nachle Anokhi

2008 Fashion Special Appearance

2008 Dil Kabaddi Simi Released

2009 The President Is Coming Maya Roy

2009 Luck by Chance Sona Mishra

2009 Right or Wrong Post-production

2009 Wake up Sid Aisha Announced

2009 Sunglass Post-production

2009 Amavas Nisha Delay

2009 Goinar Baksho Anjali Announced

2009 Gulel Announced

2009 Meridian Pramilla Delay

2009 8 Zeinab (segment "how can it be ?") Post-production

2009 Shantaram Guest appearance Announced

2009 Mirch Announced

Awards

National Film Awards

2003: National Film Award for Best Actress, Mr and Mrs Iyer

2007: National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, Omkara

Filmfare Awards

2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Omkara

2008: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Life in a... Metro

Zee Cine Awards

2006: Zee Cine Award Best Female Debut, Page 3 (Jointly with Vidya Balan)

2007: Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Female, for Omkara

IIFA Awards

2008: IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award, Life in a... Metro

AIFA Awards

2007: Special Recognition Award - 15, Park Avenue

2008: Best Supporting Actress Award - Life in a... Metro

Other Awards

2002: Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards : Best Actress for Ek Je Aachhe Kanya

2007: Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards : Most Outstanding Performance of the Year for 15, Park Avenue

2007: Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival : Best Actress for Dosar

Nominations for Awards (Important ones)

2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

Awards

National Film Award

Preceded by

Tabu

for Chandni Bar

and

Sobhana

for Mitr, My Friend Best Actress

for Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

2003 Succeeded by

Meera Jasmine

for Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilapam

Preceded by

Urvashi

for Achuvinte Amma Best Supporting Actress

for Omkara

2007 Succeeded by

TBD

Filmfare Award

Preceded by

Ayesha Kapoor

for Black Best Supporting Actress

for Omkara

2007 Succeeded by

Konkona Sen Sharma

for Life in a... Metro

Preceded by

Konkona Sen Sharma

for Omkara Best Supporting Actress

for Life in a... Metro

2008 Succeeded by

TBD