Seema Biswas (born 14 January 1965) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur's film Bandit Queen (1994), for which she won the National Film Award for Best Actress. She won the 2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the 2006 Best Actress Genie Award for her role as Shakuntala in Deepa Mehta's Water (2005). Her other mainstream films include Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), for which she won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress, Bhoot (2003), Vivah (2006) and Half Girlfriend (2017). In addition to films, Biswas has appeared in many television shows, most recently, The Family Man.
Personal life and education Biswas was born in a Bengali family at Nalbari, Assam, to Jagdish Biswas and Meera Biswas. After completing her primary education, she graduated in political science with honours from Nalbari College, Assam. She studied dramatic arts at the National School of Drama in New Delhi.
Biswas had married Nikhilesh Sharma, who's a film producer, but they later got divorced. Since then Biswas has been single.
Career Biswas played the lead in Krishnan Kartha's Amshini (Hindi), it entered the Indian Panorama Section of Filmotsav 1988. However, the general belief is that she debuted after Shekhar Kapur watched her perform in the NSD Repertory Company and offered her a role in Bandit Queen. Although she had earlier acted in Assamese cinema, this was her first big break into Hindi cinema.
In 1996, she played the role of Flavy, a deaf and mute woman in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi: The Musical opposite Nana Patekar and won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Rooted firmly in theatre, she refuses to be typecast, and has worked in a variety of films and character roles. She has also worked in Marathi, Malayalam and Tamil films. Some of her Marathi films are Bindhast, Dhyaas Parwa and Lalbaug-Parel.
She has been honoured with the Life Membership of International Film And Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television by the director Sandeep Marwah.
In 2014, Biswas was a jury member of the 45th International Film Festival of India, held from 20 to 30 November at Goa.
Filmography Films Year Title Role Language1988 Amshini Sarada Hindi1994 Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi 1996 Khamoshi: The Musical Flavy J. Braganza 1997 Ladies Only 1998 Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa Somu's mother 1999 Bindhaast CBI officer MarathiSamar Dulari Hindi 2001 Dhyasparva Malati Karve Marathi Shantham Malayalam 2002 Deewangee Psychiatrist HindiCompany RanibaiGhaav: The Wound Tanya 2003 Boom Bharti Hindi, English Bhoot Bai HindiIyarkai Mercy TamilPinjar Pagli- Mad woman Hindustani, Punjabi2004 Kaya Taran Sister Agatha HindiDobara Ek Hasina Thi ACP Malti Vaidya Hindi, EnglishHanan Mrs. Heeralal Hindi, Bengali, English 2005 Water Shakuntala English, HindiMumbai Godfather Inspector Anjali HindiThe White Land Sudha's mother 2006 Vivah Rama ShoonyaPradhan Thalaimagan S. Alankaram TamilZindaggi Rocks Hindi 2007 Sofia The Madam EnglishRisk Devki Wardhan Hindi Amal Sapna Agarwal English, Hindi 2008 Striker Siddharth's mother HindiShaurya Captain Javed Khan's mother Heaven on Earth English, PunjabiYeh Mera India Bai Hindi 2009 Cooking with Stella Stella English, HindiDujone Meghna's aunt Bengali 2010 Lalbaug Parel Mother Marathi 2011 Queens! Destiny Of Dance Guru Amma HindiPatang Sudha Hindi, Gujarati, EnglishWith Love, Delhi! Mother English2012Midnight's Children Mary 2013 Oonga Laxmi Hindi, Odia 2014 Chaarfutiya Chhokare Janki HindiManjunath Manjunath's MotherSold Amma English Balyakalasakhi Selvi MalayalamEndless Summer Malayalam2015 Jai Ho Democracy Mohini Devi Hindi2016Kothanodi Dhoneshwari AssameseA Yellow Bird Siva's mother Tamil, Mandarin, EnglishFreaky Ali Ali's Mother HindiAnatomy of Violence Holding Back Project Marathwada 2017 Half Girlfriend Rani Sahiba, Madhav's mother Sameer Mumtaz Khala Soul Curry Konkani Dhiya Poota Kakiya Bhojpuri 2018 Bhoga Khirikee Assamese 2019 Darkness Visible Rakhee Hindi 2020 Idam Bhanu Malayalam 2020 Funny Boy Ammachi English, Tamil, Sinhala 2021 Atrangi Re Naani Hindi2022 Bachchhan Paandey Mrs. Paandey2023 Sir Madam Sarpanch Parvati2024 Political War Sunita ChatterjeeSarfiraVeer’s Mother Visfot Acid Tai Mon PotongoBengali2025Raktabeej 2BengaliJolly LLB 3 Janki Rajaram Solanki Hindi
Television YearTitleRole2014–15Maha Kumbh: Ek Rahasaya, Ek KahaniMai Mui2019Leila Madhu2020Daadi Amma Daadi Amma Maan Jaao!Daadi Amma2020Code MAsif's mother2021–presentThe Family ManPM Basu2022HumanRoma Ma2022Breathe: Into the ShadowsDr. Indu Rao2023Kaalkoot Ravi's mother 2025Om Kali Jai KaliKaathadi2025-presentBindiya Ke BahubaliSanka Davan2026Hunkkaarthe Judge
Awards
YearAwardFilmCategoryResult1996National Film AwardsBandit QueenBest Actress
Notes
External links