5 Tollywood movies that prove Roopa Ganguly is a treasure to Bengali cinema

Touted to be the ‘Shabana Azmi of Tollywood’, Roopa Ganguly is best known for her brilliant portrayal of Draupadi in BR Chopra's magnum opus ‘Mahabharata’. The Bengali actress who is adored for her versatility has appeared in innumerable movies in different languages. The actress-turned-politician is also an award-winning singer. Here we list her contribution to Bengali cinema with some of her most memorable on-screen performances on celluloid.

The Bengali film, directed by Riingo Banerjee, is largely inspired by Zhang Ling's essay ‘The Great Tangshan Earthquake’. ‘Na Hannyate’ is a touching story of a woman named Jui (Roopa Ganguly), who is caught in a situation where she has to save only one of her kids and leave the other. The narrative deals with various aspects of relationships and how they gradually change in times of crisis.

The Rituparno Ghosh directorial is based on a popular short story 'Protima' by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay. Jackie Shroff was seen as the zamindar whose wife is Mahamaya (Roopa Ganguly). He marries again the much younger Jashomati (Soha Ali Khan) and both of these wives start to compete against each other in a battle of ego.

This award-winning film by Gautam Ghose witnessed the impeccable performance by Roopa Ganguly as Kopila. It was an Indo-Bangladesh joint venture inspired by a novel of the same name by Manik Bandopadhyay. The film revolves around protagonist Hossain, a Bengali Muslim who dreams of establishing a little Utopia on an island in the Padma delta and doesn't care whether the people living there are Hindus or Muslims.

The story of ‘Krantikaal’ sees Shilajeet Majumdar, a militant on the run take shelter in a dilapidated mansion where Roopa Ganguly lives with her father-in-law Soumitra Chatterjee and his bed-confined father. The film deals with the friction and undercurrent of tension between the helpless lady and the terrorist. It becomes a brief mutual self-discovery that results in compassion. Roopa Ganguly's superb on-screen performance brought this Sekhar Das directorial a National Award.

Roopa Ganguly lent her beautiful voice for two Tagore songs in the film apart from her effortless acting – ‘Dure Kothao Dure Dure’ and ‘Aaji Bijan Ghare’ and she won the Best Female Playback Singer Award at the 59th National Film Awards. The story of 'Abosheshey' follows a son who is trying to find out the truth behind his mother’s death. The interesting part is, the entire story unfolds not through typical melancholy or sadness but the celebration of seeking the truth.