Rimi Sen

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

It is a well-known fact that Bollywood salutes only the rising star. An unsuccessful or lesser fortunate person is conveniently forgotten here.

Today we explore an actress who had everything going perfect for her right from the word go. She was working with top actors and directors of her time and was part of many Bollywood hits. Yet, she faced a sudden career downfall within a short period and just vanished from the industry. This actress is none other than the Bengali beauty Rimi Sen.

We are sure the 2000s (decade) kids, who have grown up watching her movies, will be curious to know what went wrong with her career and why she suddenly disappeared.

Most of the time, an actor faces a downfall in career due to wrong choice of films or bad relation with co-stars and directors or just plain arrogance and bad attitude. But none of this was ever heard about Rimi in print or electronic media. So, what exactly went wrong for her??!! Let’s delve in to her life from the beginning…

Rimi was born as Subhamitra Sen in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 21st September, 1981 in a middle-class Bengali family. She is not related to the famous filmi family of Suchitra- Moon Moon Sen, which many fans mistake her to be.

Rimi studied in Vidyabharti Girls High School and graduated from the Kolkata University. She was fond of acting and dancing right from childhood and learnt the classical dance of Odissi. Her conservative parents were against her joining films but Rimi found support from her grandfather.

Rimi decided to enter the modelling world and got her portfolio done, which was circulated to many production houses and advertising agencies. As we said earlier, Rimi had everything going right for her from the word go.

Her photos reached an agency, which was making the Coca Cola commercial with superstar Aamir Khan. Rimi bagged the coveted commercial with Khan and the ad soon reached the television of every household in India, where it would be played between serial breaks or cricket matches. Rimi got instant recognition and was referred as the Coca Cola girl.

Next, a South Indian filmmaker offered her work in his film Nee Thodu Kavali (2002). Though this film is mostly reported to be her debut, Rimi’s first movie as an actress, was Aparna Sen’s highly acclaimed National Award-winning Bengali film Paromitar Ek Din (2000) in which she had a blink and miss role. During her earlier modelling days, she also acted in a Telugu film Ide Naa Modati Prema Lekha (2001). Having said that, Nee Thodu Kavali was the movie which kickstarted Rimi’s career as director Priyadarshan noticed her in it and signed her for his upcoming project Hungama (2003), a mad comedy caper with both Akshaye Khanna and Aftab Shivdasani in the lead wooing Rimi Sen as the heroine.

Hungama was the ticket to Bollywood for Rimi. Director Priyadarshan was riding high on the success of Hera Pheri (2000) in those days and Rimi got instantly identified as a heroine of comedy movies, especially after her subsequent releases. Hungama became a hit and is still popular on satellite television.

In 2003, a few months after Hungama, Rimi appeared in a small but pivotal role in Ravi Chopra’s Baghban (2003). The film had the legendary pair of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini with Salman Khan in an extended cameo. Rimi played the granddaughter of the two legends, who is rude to her grandmother initially but later, develops a soft corner for her.

Rimi Sen’s next release was the prestigious Yashraj Film’s high octane actioner Dhoom (2004). Though the film focused on the cop and robber chase between Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, Rimi’s glamorous character of Sweety Dixit- Abhishek’s Bengali speaking wife – was loved by the audience.

In 2005, Rimi had three big releases including a clash on Diwali day. She appeared in special appearance in two films – Garam Masala and Kyon Ki – both directed by her mentor Priyadarshan, which released together on Diwali weekend. Garam Masala was a box office success but the grim Kyon Ki didn’t find any takers. Her last release of that year was Vikram Bhatt’s Deewane Huye Paagal, which had an ensemble cast and was expected to be a big success like its spiritual prequel Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) but it inexplicably tanked at the box office.

2006 can be said to be the luckiest year for Rimi Sen on the professional front as her two most eagerly awaited sequels were lined up for release – Phir Hera Pheri and Dhoom 2. In Phir Hera Pheri, she was cast opposite Akshay Kumar but in Dhoom 2, her role was cut short to a cameo. Both the films were huge box office hits. Moreover, the biggest surprise hit of the year was Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal: Fun Unlimited in which Rimi was the centre of attraction getting wooed by all the four heroes. The comedy drama turned in to a highly successful franchise but surprisingly, the rest of the movies didn’t feature Rimi Sen.

Actually, Rimi was mostly getting offers for comedy films, which were doing well at the box office but weren’t exciting her anymore. As an actor, she wanted to try out a different genre and hence, signed Johnny Gaddaar (2007), a dark thriller directed by Sriram Raghavan.