BeauGleason6763 at 22:33, 1 March 2026

2026-03-01T22:33:51Z

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{{unreliable sources|date=September 2025}}
{{Short description|Odia actress (born 1973)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Bhaswati Basu
| image = Bhaswati Basu.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1973|3|5}}
| birth_place = [[Bhubaneswar]]
| alma_mater = [[Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya]]
| education = Post-graduation in Drama
| known_for = Acting in films, television serials and theatre; Poetry
| spouse = Vijay Mandal
| children = Dishani
| father = [[Asim Basu]]
| mother = Gita Basu
| awards = Best Supporting Actress, [[Odisha State Film Awards]] (2005)
| signature = Bhaswati Basu Signature in Odia.png
| signature_type =
| signature_size =
| signature_alt =
| module =
}}

'''Bhaswati Basu''' (born 5 March 1973) is an [[Odia language|Odia]] film, television and stage actress, playwright and director. Her notable performances in Odia films include those in ''[[Kathantara]]'', recognized as the Best Supporting Actress in the 2005 [[Odisha State Film Awards]], and ''[[Khyanikaa: The Lost Idea]]''. Her father is stage and art director [[Asim Basu]].

==Early life and family==
Bhaswati Basu was born on 5 March 1973 in Bapuji Nagar, [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Odisha]]. Her mother is Gita Basu and her father, Asim Basu, renowned painter, actor, director, writer and art director.<ref name="ie_3acts">{{cite news |date=2009-08-30 |title=Three acts of a new beginning |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2009/Aug/30/three-acts-of-a-new-beginning-81797.html |publisher=[[Indian Express]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250705131532/https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2009/Aug/30/three-acts-of-a-new-beginning-81797.html |archive-date=2025-07-05 |access-date=2025-07-05}}</ref> She has two siblings, Atasi and Gautam. Basu married Vijay Mandal and they have a daughter Dishani.

Basu graduated in drama from [[Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya]]. She served as guest faculty at the institute after completing her studies.<ref name="ie_women">{{cite news |date=2009-04-10 |title=Women directors steal the show |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2009/Apr/10/women-directors-steal-the-show-40017.html |publisher=[[Indian Express]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250706074951/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2009/Apr/10/women-directors-steal-the-show-40017.html |archive-date=2025-07-06 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

==Career==
===Films===
Bhaswati Basu made her acting debut in 2005 with the Odia film ''Jiwan Mrutyu'', directed by Raju Mishra. Her second film was ''Kathantara'', released in 2006 and directed by Himanshu Khatua. Among the eight awards the film won in the 2006 Odisha State Film Awards, her performance in it secured her the Best Supporting Actress award.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowEntertainmentNews.asp?id=5223 |title=Award winning parallel cinema Kathantara released, Orissa Entertainment News |work=orissadiary.com |access-date=2009-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725015645/http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowEntertainmentNews.asp?id=5223 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Basu also acted in the 2017 film ''Khyanikaa: The Lost Idea'', directed by [[Amartya Bhattacharyya]]. The film was featured in Indian Panorama section of the 2017 edition of the [[International Film Festival of India]].<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2017-11-09 |title=Indian Panorama selection of Feature and Non Feature films for 48th IFFI 2017 announced |url=https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1508861 |publisher= [[Press Information Bureau]]|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250706032455/https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1508861 |archive-date=2025-07-06 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref> It also received critical acclaim at several international film festivals.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mishra |first=Sweta |date=2017-10-21 |title=Odisha-based filmmaker ecstatic after UK invite |url=https://sambadenglish.com/odisha-based-filmmaker-ecstatic-after-uk-invite/ |publisher=[[Sambad]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250705124057/https://sambadenglish.com/odisha-based-filmmaker-ecstatic-after-uk-invite/ |archive-date=2025-07-05 |access-date=2025-07-05}}</ref>

Basu also acted in the short film ''Rasagola'', directed by Swaraj Mishra and screened in 2020, that is based on ''Babuna'', a collection of stories of a child growing up in a village in Odisha.<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-11-05 |title=Swaraj Mishra's 'Rasagola' wins Odisha State Film Awards |url=https://sambadenglish.com/swaraj-mishras-rasagola-adjudged-best-documentary-film-at-31st-odisha-state-film-awards/ |publisher=[[Sambad]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105145232/https://sambadenglish.com/swaraj-mishras-rasagola-adjudged-best-documentary-film-at-31st-odisha-state-film-awards/ |archive-date=2021-11-05 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

Basu played the role of the mother of the eponymous protagonist in the 2021 film, ''Kokoli: Fish Out of Water'', whose theme was the impact on the Odia fishing community of rising sea levels thanks to [[climate change]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Banerji |first=Annie |date=2018-09-25 |title=Love in the Time of Climate Change: Indian film with a new take on romance |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/love-in-the-time-of-climate-change-indian-film-with-a-new-take-on-romance-idUSKCN1M51ON/ |publisher=[[Reuters]] |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

''Phalguna Chaitra'', in which Basu essayed a prominent role, was the first Odia film to be released simultaneously in 9 countries, in 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last=Routray |first=Rituparna |date=2023-05-12 |title=ବଦଳୁଛି ଓଡିଆ ଫିଲ୍ମର ଢାଞ୍ଚା : ଅଷ୍ଟ୍ରେଲିଆ ସହିତ ୮ଟି ଦେଶରେ ରିଲିଜ ହେଲା ଫିଲ୍ମ 'ଫାଲଗୁନ ଚୈତ୍ର' |trans-title=The format of Odia films is changing: 'Phalgun Chaitra' released in 8 countries including Australia |lang=or |url=https://kanaknews.com/phalguna-chaitra-to-hit-theatres-across-odisha-on-may-12-australia-release-on-may-13/ |publisher=[[Kanak News]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512082627/https://kanaknews.com/phalguna-chaitra-to-hit-theatres-across-odisha-on-may-12-australia-release-on-may-13/ |archive-date=2023-05-12 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

===Stage===
Basu began her stage career with the theatre group ''Satabdira Kalakar'', and, notably, has directed plays like ''Aparna'', ''Dine Ratire'', ''Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya'' and ''Tyaga''.<ref name="ie_3acts" />

Basu starred in over twenty five plays, wrote the script for nineteen productions and directed thirteen.<ref name="ob_empress">{{cite news |last=Chakra |first=Shyamhari |date=2020-10-11 |title=I Feel Like An Empress On Stage, Says Odia Theatre's Leading Light Bhaswati Basu |url=https://odishabytes.com/i-feel-like-an-empress-on-stage-says-odia-theatres-leading-light-bhaswati-basu/ |publisher=Odisha Bytes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119131312/https://odishabytes.com/i-feel-like-an-empress-on-stage-says-odia-theatres-leading-light-bhaswati-basu/ |archive-date=2021-01-19 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

In 2009, Basu directed ''Aparna'', her adaptation of the [[Bengali language|Bengali]] play of the same name by [[Banaphul|Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay]] at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya.<ref name="ie_women"/> Three years later, she directed ''Kandhei Ghara'', her own translation of the [[Henrik Ibsen]] play, [[A Doll's House]], for the institute's ''Natya Saptah'' theatre festival.<ref>{{cite news |date=2012-02-11 |title=Students stage myriad plays |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/odisha/students-stage-myriad-plays-dramatists-translate-works-of-ibsen-o-henry-into-odia/cid/455091 |publisher=[[Telegraph India]] |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

Basu adapted the Satabdira Kalakar production of [[Charandas Chor]], a famous [[Habib Tanvir]] play.<ref>{{cite web |date=2020-10-11 |title=Plays staged by Satabdira Kalakar |url=https://www.satabdirakalakar.org/kalakar.php |publisher=Satabdira Kalakar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827183305/https://www.satabdirakalakar.org/kalakar.php |archive-date=2023-08-27 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

===Television===
Basu has acted in several Odia serials.

{| class="wikitable"
!Title
!Telecaster
!Director
|-
|''Ananya''
|ETV Network
|Debananda Nayak
|-
|''Badhu Nuhen Bandhu''
|[[DD Odia]]
|Ajit Das
|-
|''Sei Kahani''
|DD Odia
|Rajat Paikaraya
|-
|''Ananya Anupama''
|DD Odia
|Jyoti Prakash
|-
|''Dharmatma''
|DD Odia
|Gudiya Mahapatra
|-
|''Nila Mastrani''
|DD Odia
|[[Sadhu Meher]]
|-
|''Budha Sankhari''
|DD Odia
|Tapas Bose
|-
|''Queen''
|[[Tarang TV]]
|
|-
|''Abujhaa Ae Man''
|Tarang TV
|
|-
|''Gayatri''
|ETV Odia
|Sudhanshu Sahu
|-
|''Bhagya Bidhata''
|ETV Odia
|Sudhanshu Sahu
|-
|''Ashar Aakash''
|[[Kalinga TV]]
|
|-
|''Badhu''
|[[Zee Entertainment Enterprises#India|Sarthak TV]]
|
|-
|''Maaya''
|Tarang TV
|
|-
|''Sinhadwar''
|[[List of Odia-language television channels#Defunct channels|Manjari TV]]
|
|}

===Poetry===
When her father died in 2017, Basu returned to writing poetry which she occasionally had done in college.<ref name="ob_empress" /> Having written 70 poems, she published them as the anthology ''Bata Abata'' in 2021<ref>{{cite web |title=Bata Abata by Bhaswati Basu |url=https://ritikart.com/products/bata-abata-by-bhaswati-basu |publisher=Ritikart |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bata Abata |url=https://www.amazon.in/BATA-ABATA-Bhaswati-Basu/dp/B09WQLLNV8 |publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

In 2023, another volume of her poems, ''Raga Malkosh'', was published.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raga Malkosh |url=https://www.amazon.in/Raga-Malkosh-Bhaswati-Basu/dp/B0CNZ6C3WM |publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

===Other===
Basu also helped organize the 2018 ''Asim Utsav'', commemorating the first death anniversary of her father, that staged three of his plays. She was in charge of conceptualizing the Odisha Pavilion at the [[India International Trade Fair]] in [[New Delhi]].<ref name="ob_empress" /> She also organised, along with Subhashree Shubhashmita Mishra, an informal event called Cafetaria, in which litterateurs discuss politics and policy for a young audience.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bal |first=Sandip |date=2019-04-08 |title=City witnesses litterateurs discuss politics
|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/bhubaneswar/city-witnesses-litterateurs-discuss-politics/articleshow/68796139.cms |publisher=[[Times of India]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515192743/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/bhubaneswar/city-witnesses-litterateurs-discuss-politics/articleshow/68796139.cms |archive-date=2019-05-15 |access-date=2025-07-06}}</ref>

==Filmography==

*2005 ''Jiwan Mrutyu''
*2006 ''Kathantara''
*2017 ''Khyanikaa: The Lost Idea''
*2019 ''Rasagola''
*2021 ''Kokoli: Fish Out of Water''
*2023 ''Phalguna Chaitra''
*2025 ''Indradhanu''

==Bibliography==

*Basu, Bhaswati (2021). ''Bata Abata''. Barsha Publication, Bhubaneswar, India. pp. 136.
*Basu, Bhaswati (2023). ''Raga Malkosh''. Barsha Publication, Bhubaneswar, India. pp. 88.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|3377011}}

{{Commons cat|Bhaswati Basu|ଭାସ୍ୱତୀ ବସୁ}}
{{Authority Control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Bhaswati}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Actresses from Odisha]]
[[Category:Actresses in Odia cinema]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bhubaneswar]]

Bhaswati Basu - Revision history

BeauGleason6763 at 22:33, 1 March 2026