Actor

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Riya Sen (Bengali pronunciation: [rija ʃen]; born Riya Dev Varma; 24 January 1981), now known as Riyaa senn is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Hindi, Bengali, English, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Odia films.

Born to actress Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma, Sen comes from a royal background. Her father hails from the royal family of the erstwhile Tripura State. He was the son of Ila Devi, a princess of Cooch Behar State and nephew of Gayatri Devi, Maharani of Jaipur State. Sen's grandmother Suchitra Sen was a veteran actress. She began her acting career when she was five years old, playing her mother's daughter on screen for the first time. Later in 1991 she worked as a child actress in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget comedy directed by N. Chandra. Some of her other notable films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2003) in Hinglish, and Malayalam horror film Ananthabhadram (2005). She won the Star Guide Award as best actress for her performance in Noukadubi.

Sen was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of seventeen in 1998. Since then, she has appeared in music videos, television advertisements, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. Sen has worked as an activist and appeared in an AIDS awareness music video with the aim of dispelling popular myths about the disease. She also helped raise funds for paediatric eye-care and underprivileged children. Riya has been granted an O-1 visa to the United States for her extraordinary abilities.

Acting career

Sen first appeared as a child artist in the film when she was five years old. Later, in 1991 she worked as a child actress in the film Vishkanya, where she played the role of the young Pooja Bedi. At the age of 19, she did National Film Awards winning director Bharathiraja's Tamil film, Taj Mahal (2000) which was written by Mani Ratnam while music was composed by A. R. Rahman, which did not achieve commercial success. She was scheduled to make her Bollywood film debut in Love You Hamesha, opposite actor Akshaye Khanna; however, the film was stalled, and she finally made her debut in N. Chandra's Style in 2001. This low-budget comedy was the first commercial success in over a decade for the director. A launch pad for Riya, cast in the female lead along with fellow-newcomers, Sharman Joshi, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal, the film pioneered a trend of commercial success for small budget films in India. Riya and the second female lead of the film were replaced by aspirant actresses Sonali Joshi and Jaya Seal in Xcuse Me.

Her next success was Jhankaar Beats, comedy revolving around the music of legendary composer R D Burman, which saw her playing a small and glamorous role alongside Shayan Munshi, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna and Sanjay Suri. Produced by Pritish Nandy, publishing director of The Times of India, the film was made on a budget of Rs. 25 million (US$525,000), marking the sixth in a row of small to medium budget films made by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC). Despite being part of a wave of offbeat films that mostly failed to make an impact at the box office, it drew public attention upon its release, which led to a commercial success among a restricted audience targeted by a selective release in twenty cities. It was one of the first films made in Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English.

Her films Style and Jhankar Beats have done wonders commercially. Her latter films Harry Baweja's Qayamat and Subhash Ghai's Apna Sapna Money Money were also box office hits and that ran for 150 days. These films were 4 consecutive hits in a row. While many of her appearances have been item numbers and cameos, few of her leading roles have been in Low-budget films. Though she had small roles in Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), Qayamat (2003) and Plan (2004), attention was drawn to her item numbers in all three, especially the one in Qayamat that featured her in a bubble-bath. Besides this, she performed another item number in James (2005) on director-producer Ram Gopal Varma's behest, who has a history of casting aspirant actress-models like Sameera Reddy, Isha Koppikar and Koena Mitra in similar roles. Furthermore, she took part in a dance number for Sajid Khan's Heyy Babyy (2007) that featured several mainstream Bollywood actresses.

Non-Hindi films

Riya has, in addition to Hindi films, appeared in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Her film career began in the earnest with Tamil films such as Bharathi Raja's Taj Mahal, co-starring Manjoj Bharatiraja in the male lead, and Manoj Bhatnaghar's Good Luck, opposite Prashanth. Both of the films failed commercially, she also did a dance number for N. Maharajan's Arasatchi.

Her first English language movie was It Was Raining That Night, a remake of the Bengali film Hei Brishtir Raat, scripted by Sudeshna Roy and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. In the film, she collaborated with her mother Moon Moon Sen. Riya was slated to appear in Anjan Dutt's Bengali-English bilingual film The Bong Connection with her sister, but she was eventually dropped from the project and replaced by Peeya Rai Chaudhary. The two sisters were later cast together in director Ajai Sinha's 3 Bachelors, a Bengali film that started as The Bachelor in 2002 and was released in 2012.

Her most successful non-Hindi film has been director Santhosh Sivan's Ananthabhadram (2005). The first Malayalam venture for both Riya and Sivan, was both a critical and commercial success. It won five Kerala State Film Awards and surfaced as one of the biggest Malayalam successes that year. She played the role of Bhama in the film, a village girl who is lured by Digambaran, the evil magician portrayed by Manoj K. Jayan. In a song-and-dance sequence showing Digambaran turning Bhama into a medium for demonic rituals, the choreographer Aparna Sindoor made abundant use of Kathakali movements. The use of Kathakali has been a high point in the resurgence of the classical dance form in other major Indian films as well, including Shaji Karun's Vanaprastham (1999) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair (2005). She made her Telugu debut with Nenu Meeku Telusa?, in which she was paired opposite Manoj Manchu.

In 2012 Sen won the Star Guide Award as best actress for her performance in Noukadubi.

She was also featured in video song of Kamaal Khan album Suno To Deewana Dil in song Jaana.

Modelling career

Sen became a popular model when she appeared in numerous music videos for songs by popular singers, including Falguni Pathak's Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi (alternative title: Chudi Jo Khankayi), Asha Bhosle's Jhumka Gira Re, Jagjit Singh and Bhosle's Jab Samne Tum and Kahin Kahin Se, Lata Mangeshkar, Bhonsle and Singh's Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin, Sonu Nigam's Jeena Hai Tere Liye and Shaan's Sutta Maro. She shot for her first music video, Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi, at the age of sixteen. This led to her being identified primarily as a performer for music videos early in her career, an image she aimed to shed in 2005. Sen has appeared on several magazine covers, including Femina, Elaan, Man's World, Gladrags, Savvy and Indian versions of Elle, Maxim and Cosmopolitan, as well as on the ramp of major fashion shows like Lakmé Fashion Week (2005–07) and Wills Fashion Week (2006–2007). She participated in fashion shows along with her elder sister, Raima Sen.

Besides modelling, Sen has ventured into the advertisement world as well. A high point of her modelling career came in 2006, when she became the soft drink, Limca's brand ambassador, replacing Deepika Padukone. Her other notable assignments include Colgate, Dabur Vatika, Reliance Industries, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, and Nirma.

In 2004, she was featured partially nude in leading Indian photographer Dabboo Ratnani's annual calendar, which is a…