Ruma Guha Thakurta

Biography:

Ruma Guha Thakurta (3 November 1934 – 3 June 2019) was an Indian actress and singer primarily associated with Bengali language films. She founded Calcutta Youth Choir in 1958.

Ruma Guha Thakurta was born as Ruma Ghosh on 3 November 1934 to Satyen Ghosh (Monty Ghosh) and singer Sati Devi. Her family was culturally inclined to Brahmo Samaj, a societal component of Brahmoism. Her mother Sati was eldest sister of Bijoya Ray, the wife of Satyajit Ray.

Guha Thakurta was a trained vocalist and a dancer. 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 also trained in dance at “Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre” at Almora.

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 Sromona. Sromona is also a singer.

Guha Thakurta made her acting debut in Amiya Chakravarty’s Jwar Bhata (1944) at age ten. This was the debut film of Dilip Kumar. Her next film as Ruma Ghosh was Nitin Bose, whose first cousin was her aunt’s father-in-law,’s Mashaal (1950) 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.