Swastika Mukherjee (born 13 December 1980) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Bengali and Hindi films and television. She is the daughter of actor Santu Mukhopadhyay. Throughout her career, she received various accolades including four Filmfare Awards East (including a record of three wins and five nominations for Best Actress), one WBFJA, one Anandalok Award and one Kalakar Award.
Mukherjee made her screen debut with Devdasi, a Bengali TV series. She made her big screen debut with Hemanter Pakhi (2001). Her first leading role came with Mastan (2004), opposite Jeet. She made her Hindi film debut with Mumbai Cutting (2008).
Early life
Mukherjee spent her childhood in a self-described "simple life" with her father Santu Mukhopadhyay, younger sister Ajopa, and mother Gopa. Her favourite films were Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She was educated at Carmel School, Kolkata, St. Teresa's Secondary School, and Gokhale Memorial School. Post-Graduation in History at Jadavpur University.
Personal life
In 1998 at the age of 18, she married Promit Sen, son of Rabindra Sangeet singer Sagar Sen. The marriage was an unhappy one and lasted two years. Swastika accused Promit of physically abusing her and locking her out of their home when she was pregnant. She filed a charge against him for cruelty and solicitation of dowry. These charges were subsequently dismissed and Promit was acquitted.
Swastika later filed an affidavit in court stating that her accusations were 'unfounded, false, baseless and speculative,' before confessing in a media conference that they were false. Consequently, Promit's brother sued her for damages in Calcutta High Court and she was held liable for ₹7.7 crore ($1.7 million). According to Mukherjee, Sen filed for divorce in 2000, but changed his mind when she became successful in her acting career. She has one daughter from the marriage, Anwesha, born in 2000.
In 2001, Mukherjee enrolled at the Ananda Shankar Centre for Culture, learning dance from veteran Tanusree Shankar. During the filming of Mastan, she began dating her co-star Jeet. They went on to appear in several films together, including Kranti, Sathihara, Priyotoma, Krishnakanter Will, Pitribhumi and Partner. She later began a relationship with Parambrata Chatterjee on the set of Brake Fail. As she was still lawfully married to Promit Sen, he filed a charge against Chatterjee for criminal adultery and enticement of a married woman. They separated in 2010 when Chatterjee moved to Bristol.
Criminal case
In May 2026, an FIR was registered against Mukherjee and actor Parambrata Chatterjee at Gariahat police station in Kolkata about their social media posts on May 2, 2021, immediately after AITC's victory in the then Assembly elections instigated political violence against BJP workers in the state. The FIR registered by an advocate claims that at around 4 pm on May 4, Parambrata Chatterjee made a post in Bengali, which meant, “Let today be declared World ‘Rogorani’ thrashing Day!”), to which Mukherjee responded with an emoji, saying “Hahahah Hok Hok”, which instigated AITC workers for violence.
Mukerjee has already appeared before the police and her statement was recorded by the Investigating Officer, while Parambrata Chatterjee has moved to Calcutta High Court with an appeal to quash the FIR registered against him.
Controversies
In May 2014, Mukherjee was hospitalised after an alleged suicide attempt. Under strong local protest, Kolkata police detained Mukherjee's boyfriend Suman Mukhopadhyay.