The Must Read Moon Moon Sen Interview

'Bombshell image helped me get out of being my mother's daughter.'

Moon Moon Sen looks back at her beautiful life and career, and also recounts family moments with legendary mum Suchitra Sen, her late husband Bharat Dev Varman and their daughters, Raima and Riya Sen.

She tells Subhash K Jha, "I thought of myself as a Bengali actress. I only realised later on that films are Indian."

You celebrated your 72nd birthday on March 28, and you have lived a full life, with a legendary mother, two lovely daughters and a husband who was absolutely devoted to you. How do you look back at that part of your journey?

I did not want to join films, so I studied. I did my master's degree, and was going into my PhD when I got married and had two children. And the offers kept coming for me to work in films.

Since your hands were full with two daughters, you couldn't leave them behind and go...

I didn't leave them behind, I took them everywhere and had a nanny with me. When I came to Kolkata from an outdoor shoot, they were sent by my husband in the studios to have lunch with me and then I'd come home in the evening.

'The concept of marriage seems to have disappeared'

Bharat was a very hands-on father, wasn't he?

Yes. I couldn't have done it without him. No woman can do it without a partner. Today, you have young boys who say, we don't want to get married. The girls are also working, so they don't want to spend their life with one man. The concept of marriage seems to have disappeared.

It's really companionship and both of you chipping in to make it work.

Parenting is very expensive. In today's world, everything is very expensive. There's schooling, there's tuition, everything. Not everyone can afford nannies. My husband went to work and from there, he'd connect with the house, the children, the maids and everything.

Your husband was a model spouse?

Yes. He was 83 when he went in 2024. I try to console myself with the thought that he led a very good, glamorous, exciting life. He wanted a family, he got two girls, we travelled. He once told me, when I'd come back from a shoot, you know, we live vicariously through you.

How?

The films brought a lot of excitement. People would come (home), they were always welcome. It was always an open house.

'When I had a bad experience and rang him up, he said, just come back'

How do you look back on your Bollywood stint?

It was brief because I worked in Kolkata. I thought of myself as a Bengali actress. I only realised later on that films are Indian. I worked in Chennai too.

I didn't want to carry on towards the end. I wasn't getting nice offers.

You worked with Basu Chatterjee?

Yes. I worked with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. I worked with so many big ones.

You had this, if I may use the term, bombshell image?

Yes. That helped me get out of being my mother's daughter. It was Basuda, who brought me to Bombay. I was already working in Kolkata, so it was nothing new to me.

My first film was a hit, and I was getting offers and doing quite well.

Basuda came over and said, I'm going to stay in Calcutta until you agree to come and do Sheesha. So then I rang up my husband in the office and he said, okay.

I didn't want to go to Mumbai. I wanted to work in Kolkata.

Then when I had a bad experience and rang him up, he said, just come back. You don't have to struggle and put up with all this shit. That was one of the reasons I came back.

It's frightening that the industry has not changed at all. Even today, girls aren't safe.

It's not just our entertainment industry, it's every industry.

I wouldn't call it natural, but we have all accepted it, which is really frightening. During my time, there was a lot of judging and no accountability.

You mean, if you dress a certain way or behave a certain way, you're supposed to be 'available' or whatever?

Yes. If you remember, Sharmila (Tagore) had worn a swimsuit. She had sent word to me to be careful because this will become my image. My hairdresser was her hairdresser's younger sister.

No one said anything to my face. There was a lot of yellow journalism, which one had to ignore. Today, it's almost as if they've turned into a political party. All the channels, all the newspapers, and they're passing judgment all the time. They're twisting facts.

'I remember parties at home when she would dress dressed up. But when she was alone, she was very simple'

You had a very different image from your mother Suchitra Sen, who was an absolute introvert.

She wasn't an introvert. She was very fussy and choosy about what films she would make and who she would be with.

She had her relatives and her friends.

She was very comfortable and gregarious with her friends. I remember parties at home when she would dress up. But when she was alone, she was very simple.

People who knew her very well are still around. I was quite young when she was working, so I don't have any great memories.

Your daughters Raima and Riya are beautiful girls.

They are very mischievous. But they're normal children. When I would try to discipline them, my husband would start crying. He'd say, you're so mean to my girls. But it's not that. You do have to tell them what to do and tell them off. I wasn't around so much. I was away in South Indian films or Bombay.

But they're lovely, they have grown up very well. A lot of people have told me that they're very well brought up,

Riya is married. She's a bit of a hippie, and married someone who's a bit of a hippie too. They travel the world, so they're very happy.

Raima doesn't like to travel so much. She's becoming bored of the whole set up in Kolkata and would like to work more in films in other languages.

'I don't know what politics is all about'

You led your life your way, and never let anything stop you.

Look at the industry, can you have it any other way? You're going for outdoor shoots to different places, different states, you're dressing the way you want because your strict mother is not around anymore and your husband doesn't mind. He came from a Westernised background which helped. His aunts and sister were always interested in what I was doing and not at all judgmental.

How do you look back at your stint in politics?

I don't know what politics is all about. I don't know the meaning of the word. In Parliament for four-five years, I only heard one good speech, and that was from Madhavrao Scindia's son (Jyotiraditya Scindia). Otherwise, everyone was shouting and screaming.

But I enjoyed being on time, going into Parliament, talking to friends from different parties. As my husband's wife, I was very popular with everyone around.

Photograph curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff