Ruma Guha Thakurta


Ruma Guha Thakurta was an Indian actress and singer primarily associated with Bengali language films. She founded Calcutta Youth Choir in 1958.

Early life

Thakurta was born on 3 November 1934 to Satyen Ghosh and singer Sati Devi. Thakurta's family was culturally inclined to Brahmo Samaj, a societal component of Brahmoism. Sati was a trained vocalist and elder sister to Bijoya Ray, wife of Satyajit Ray. Thakurta began as a dancer. Later, she went to Almora Academy of Uday Shankar at Lahore to study dance. She started training in music at Swarabitan in Kolkata, which had been established by her parents. In later years, she studied under Abdul Rehman Khan of Patiala gharana, the Ustad of Nirmla Devi and Lakshmi Shankar in Bombay.
She married Kishore Kumar in 1951 and had a son Amit Kumar by this marriage. The couple divorced in 1958 and she married Arup Guha Thakurta in 1960. The couple had two children, Ayan and Sramana. Sramana is also a singer.

Career

Thakurta made her acting debut in Amiya Chakravarty's Jwar Bhata at age ten. This was the debut film of Dilip Kumar. Her next film as Ruma Ghosh was Nitin Bose's Mashaal in Hindi, which had a Bengali version called Samar, adapted from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Rajani. She portrayed a blind girl, Sarla.
After her divorce, Ruma moved to Calcutta to act in Rajen Tarafdar’s Ganga based on Samaresh Bose’s eponymous cult novel. She acted as one of two leading ladies, with Sandhya Roy. Ganga won the National award for Best Feature Film that year and Ruma's portrayal of Himi received critical acclamation. In the same year, she acted in Personal Assistant opposite to Bhanu Bandopadhayay and in Khaniker Atithi by Tapan Sinha.
Her film career revived in 1962 with Benarasi, produced by her and directed by her husband. It was the tale of a courtesan who tries to lead a life of dignity and respect, when her childhood sweetheart, Ratan, takes her away from her terrible environment. It flopped, but won the BFJA Award for Best Feature Film the following year.

Filmography

As an actress

As a playback singer

Awards