Moushumi Chatterjee

Some Lesser Known Facts About Moushumi Chatterjee

• Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian film actress and politician. She primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. She was one of the top-paid actresses in the 1970s. ^[11]NDTV

• In an interview, while talking about starting her acting career she said that when she was in class 5 a Bengali film director noticed her. The director thought of casting her in his Bengali film ‘Balika Badhu.’ He then met Moushumi’s parents for their consent. His father rejected the offer. Later, the director’s wife, who was a well-known actress convinced Moushumi’s father to allow her to work in the film. However, she was not happy to work in the film as she did not enjoy wearing makeup and heavy dresses for the film. She even escaped from the makeup room several times.

  

• Soon after the release of the film, the Indian music director Hemant Kumar asked her father to take her to Mumbai for a Durga Pooja. Reportedly, some media sources started speculating that Hemant wanted Moushumi to be his daughter-in-law. The rumours turned out to be true when Moushumi got married to Hemant’s son Jayanta Mukherjee. At the time of her marriage, she was in class 10. She even took her doll, her pet dog, and her friend to her in-laws’ house after her marriage.

• Moushumi then acted in many Bengali films such as ‘Parineeta’ (1969), ‘Ogu Bodhu Sundari’ (1981), ‘Goynar Baksho’ (2013), and ‘Sesh Sangbad’ (2016).

  

• She has also appeared in many popular Hindi films including ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan’ (1974), ‘Swarg Narak’ (1978), ‘Pyaasa Sawan’ (1981), ‘Ghayal’ (1990), and ‘Piku’ (2015).

  

• Moushumi, along with the Indian actor Vinod Mehra, was paired in around ten films including ‘Anuraag’ (1972), ‘Us Paar’ (1974), ‘Raftaar’ (1975), ‘Umar Qaid’ (1975), and ‘Do Jhoot’ (1975).

  

• In 1974, she could not appear in the popular Hindi song “Hai Hai Yeh Majboori” from the film ‘Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan’ as she was pregnant at that time. Later, the song was picturised on Zeenat Aman.

• She has also appeared in a few Hindi TV serials such as ‘Katha Sagar’ (1986; DD National), ‘Talaash’ (1992; Doordarshan), ‘Albeli’ (1993; Zee TV), and ‘Jaana Na Dil Se Door’ (2016; Star Plus).

  

• She contested the Lok Sabha elections for the Congress from Kolkata North East constituency in 2004. However, she lost to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate Mohammed Salim.
  

  

  She was once asked by the party members to contest against the Indian politician Mamata Banerjee, but she denied it. A few years later, she left the party, and in 2019, she joined BJP.

  

• She once shared that the Indian film writer and director Aparna Sen never gave her credit for the film ‘Goynar Baksho,’ and promoted only Aparna’s daughter in the film. ^[12]The Times of India

• She is a dog lover and owns a pet dog named Dodo. When she was a kid, she used to bring stray dogs to her home.

  

• She has been associated with various social welfare campaigns for a very long time. She has also worked with Mother Teresa, who even composed a poem for Moushumi. ^[13]Kavita Chibber’s Official Website

• She shares a family-like relationship with Vinod Khanna’s family. She even used to babysit Vinod Khanna’s children Akshaye Khanna and Rahul Khanna.

• She once shared that she was a very emotional person and used to cry for scenes in films without using glycerine.

• In an interview, she said that she used to be a flirtatious girl. Once, the Indian actress Shabana Azmi mocked her by saying that Moushumi had the capacity to flirt from a six-year-old boy to a 60-year-old man. ^[14]Hindustan Times

• She has been featured on various magazine covers. Some of such magazines are Filmfare and Star & Style.