Amartya Sen's daughter Nandana meticulously handles her passion from movies to non-profit work

“I’m drawn to cinema because I have absolute faith in its transformative power, in its ability to raise human awareness,” says Nandana Sen.

The agenda is more important than the tool to implement it, even if it is seen as a double-edged sword by the society. So saysNandana Sen, the daughter of economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, a welfare economist, who warned Parliamentarians to remember those who are dying every day for want of food even as law makers stalled work.

The Harvard topper that Nandana is, the expectation of her parents was that she would choose to be a professor, like her father or a writer like her mother. But she chose acting to convey messages that her father does through lectures and books.

Convincing the champion of the poor was not difficult. He knew the master of movies,Satyajit Ray, as they studied together at Shantiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore.

"I'm drawn to cinema because I have absolute faith in its transformative power, in its ability to raise human awareness," says Nandana. "I've always found it significant that 'actor' and 'activist' share their root verb - to 'act' is, essentially, to 'do', and to engage or compel others to 'act' as well. Whenever possible, I combine my commitment to child rights with my acting work." The feisty actress, who has been known for her maverick, yet bold choices, has had different takes on things.

Why acting when the message could be conveyed as powerfully as her father does through writings? "In this one respect, I feel our culture has some catching up to do. Other cultures don't find it quite so mystifying that actresses can look nice, act well, think smart, write clearly, have an education, enjoy a political consciousness, and exercise a moral conscience, all at once!" Her desire to take up acting has left many tongue-tied.

"It's been a source of confusion to most. When I moved to Bombay to shoot Black, everyone's first reaction was, 'What's a Harvard topper doing in films? You're too intelligent to be an actress!'

Now that I have a body of films, when people find out that I'm a writer and an activist as well, the reaction is reverse: 'But you're an actress — why would you want to write?'' And did her parents echo her sentiments when she told them of her decision to be an actress?


"I was a prize-winning student. My parents did expect me to be either a writer or a professor. But being exceptionally creative in their own fields, they were very excited and supportive when I chose to be an actor."

As the daughter of Amartya Sen, and poet, novelist and academic Nabaneeta Dev Sen, it is hardly a surprise that Nandana inherited the best of her parents' melting pot of talents. She blends into each of her roles, be it being an unconventional actress or an active social worker aiding the cause of children, with equal ease.

Movies and her another passion, nonprofit work, where do they merge? "They are very different universes," says the daughter Sen. "I'm drawn to characters that are intense and unusual, not necessarily perfect, but all-too-human and always believable. In this respect, I've always had different priorities than many other actresses."

Her fight for child protection rights is wide-ranging, from being an official ambassador to informal advocacy. She works with several national and international organisations in this field — UNICEF, Operation Smile, Terre des Hommes, RAHI, MVF Foundation and FXB Suraksha.

While many may see this as an extension of her celebrity persona, Nandana considers it her moral duty as a citizen. "There is no crisis in our country greater than the abuse, exploitation, exclusion, and violation of vulnerable children.

The disregard we show as a nation for child protection is horrifying. It's disturbing to see how easily we distance ourselves from the child without a home, the child working hazardously, the child with HIV, the child who has been sold, the child who has been raped — as if she is not a part of our reality," says Sen. Her upbringing in Kolkata and her years at Harvard have contributed to her dedication to social causes and have formed a pattern to her work.

As a child working with street children in Kolkata, working with victims of domestic abuse at Harvard and enrolling herself with UNICEF's adolescent empowerment programmes in Mumbai, she has paved her path in causes that are integral to her life.

Like the roles she chooses, her unconventional talent has led her to penning a children's book I Kissed A Kangaroo, as well as translating a book of poems published by her mother Make Up Your Mind.

Does her need to prove herself in so many different roles stem from her fear of being typecast? "Although from the start I've selected non-stereotypical roles, I think it's inevitable that actors get typecast. I'm sure there are many like me in this industry who are force-fitted either into 'arty' or 'sexy' - funnily enough I get slotted both ways!''

Source : Devika Ghosh, By ET Bureau