The Actress Who Caught Mrinal Sen's Eye

'She didn't tell us she had been diagnosed with cancer.'

Sreela Majumdar caught the discerning eye of Mrinal Sen and he cast her as Alhadi in his 1979 Bengali film, Parashuram. It bagged three National Awards as well as the Silver Prize at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival.

The same year, Sreela Majumdar had another release, Mrinal Sen's Ek Din Pratidin.

Over the next four decades, she acted in over 40 films, including Sen's Akaler Sandhane, Kharij and Khandhar, Shaym Benegal's Mandi and Arohan, Prakash Jha's Damul, Utpalendu Chakraborty's Chokh and last year, in Kaushik Ganguly's Palan.

After battling cancer for three years, Sreela passed away on January 27 at the age of 65.

Her co-star Mamata Shankar from Ek Din Pratidin, Kharij and Palan, remembers her as a brilliant actress and a lovely person, who had grown very protective of her.

She was a brilliant actress who got better with every film, more mature and accomplished," Mamata Shankar tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya.

'I was to play Minu in Ek Din Pratidin'

I met Sreela for the first time during Ek Din Pratidin.

She played my younger sister, Minu, in this 1979 Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen.

Interestingly, I was to play the role initially, but my elder son, Ratul, was just 17 days old when the shooting started.

It was difficult for me to leave him at home and go to work, so I asked Mrinalda if there was any other role that I could do instead.

He told me that I could play the elder sister, Chinu.

She's the only one in their impoverished, middle-class family who has a job, so when Chinu doesn't return home from work one night and cannot be traced, everyone is understandably upset.

The film questions whether her family's reactions stem from love and concern or fear of losing their only breadwinner.

Mrinalda pointed out to me that though the story revolves around Chinu, on screen she is there only for a few minutes.

I immediately accepted this role and that's how Sreela got to play Minu.

In retrospect, I think that whatever happens, happens for the best.

Sreela was marvelous, and I know for sure that I could have never played Minu as well as her.

She was a brilliant actress who got better with every film, more mature and accomplished.

'Sreela, you have no idea how beautiful you look!'

Sreela was very young during Ek Din Pratidin, much younger than me, which is perhaps why she was shy and not very open when we met for the first time.

We also didn't have too many scenes together either.

But over the years, we became very friendly.

Our sons went to the same school, St Xavier's Convent in Kolkata, and we would bump into each other there when we went to pick up the boys.

We went on to do other films together, like Mrinalda's Kharij and more recently, Kaushik Ganguly's Palan.

Mrinalda was very fond of Sreela.

She had a complex about her complexion, but he preferred her over other actresses for that reason.

I thought she was stunning too and would often tell her, 'Sreela, you have no idea how beautiful you look!'

'Over the years she had grown very protective of me'

Over the years, I had become like an elder sister to her and she was very protective of me.

Once there was a slight misunderstanding on the set over a vanity van.

Sreela was really annoyed when she learnt that it had been allocated to someone else instead of me.

She insisted that I should be given the van.

I tried telling her it was okay, that I would be happier sharing a makeup room with her, but she was not appeased.

'Ki kore hoi (How can this happen)? Momodi, you are much senior, you should be given the vanity van. This is not done!' she complained.

'She didn't tell us she had cancer'

Palan released last year but we shot for it the year before.

It was evident then that Sreela was unwell.

We were concerned because she didn't look too good.

She didn't tell us she had been diagnosed with cancer, just that she was recuperating from a surgery.

But I'm glad she did the film because we got to spend time together.

I didn't know then that this would be my last chance to work with her.

Some time ago, I got the news that Sreela wasn't well.

I kept meaning to call her many times, but something or the other kept cropping up.

Then one day, she was gone.

I still feel guilty for not making that call and speaking to her.