{{short description|Indian actress (1931-2011)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Gita Dey | image = Gita Dey.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|8|5|df=y}} | birth_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India | death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|1|17|1931|8|5|df=y}} | death_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India | other_names = Gita maa | children = 3 | years_active = 1938–2008 | occupation = Actress }} '''Gita Dey''' ({{langx|bn|গীতা দে}}, 5 August 1931 – 17 January 2011) was an Indian actress in Bengali cinema, theatre and Bengali folk theater.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cinestaan.com/people/gita-dey-29486 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331060208/https://www.cinestaan.com/people/gita-dey-29486 |url-status=live |archive-date=31 March 2019 |title=Gita Dey movies, filmography, biography and songs - Cinestaan.com |website=Cinestaan |access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> She became a stage artist at the age of 6 years. She came to the film industry in 1943. Her first film release was ''Ahuti'' (1941) as a child actress. She acted in over 200 Bengali-language films and over 2,000 stage shows. She acted in the movie ''Teen Kanya'' by Satyajit Ray and Rittik Ghatak's ''Meghe Dhaka Tara, Subarnarekha, Komal Gandhar, and Kato Ajanare''. She also acted in Hindi movies such as ''Parineeta'' (2005) with Vidya Balan and Sanjay Dutt and other movies.<ref>[http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails170111c.php Gita Dey dies at 79] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119012330/http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails170111c.php |date=19 January 2011 }}</ref> She was associated with All India Radio for a long time doing Shruti Natok. She received the Presidential Award for Lifetime Achievement from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and many other awards during her lifetime.
==Early life== She started as an actress in the Bengali film industry based in Kolkata's Tollygunge since 1938. Her first role was as a child artiste when she was six years old in Ahutee directed by Dhiren Ganguly.<ref name=Blooms>[http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails170111c.php Thespian Gita Dey dies at 79] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119012330/http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails170111c.php |date=19 January 2011 }}</ref>
==Later career== She has been associated with All India Radio since 1954, and enacted character roles in radio plays. However, her last play was ''Badsahi Chaal'' (1996), which was directed by Ganesh Mukherjee, and was staged at the Rangana theatre in North Kolkata.
She acted diverse roles in a wide variety of films, and is known for her versatile outlook in her many roles. Her acting even caught the attention of the legendary Laurence Olivier.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080217051543/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001222/reins.htm Transition from a child star to character artiste]</ref>
Proficient in both negative and comic roles, Dey was brilliant in the role of torn and scheming mother in Ritwik Ghatak's ''Meghe Dhaka Tara''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001222/reins.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217051543/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001222/reins.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 February 2008 |title=Gita Dey – Transition from a child star to character artiste |last=Mukerjea |first=Anit |work=Screen |access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref>
Throughout her long career, she worked with directors like Sisir Bhaduri, Ritwik Ghatak, Debaki Bose and Satyajit Ray. She also acted in a Bollywood musical based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's ''Parineeta'', starring Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan.<ref name=Blooms />
Though ailing, she went on acting and won applause in recent films like ''Tolly Lights'' and ''Chirodini Tumi Je Amar''.
Dey died on 17 January 2011 in Kolkata, aged 79.
==Filmography== *''Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960)'' *''Teen Kanya (1961)'' *''Dampati'' *''Indrani (1958)'' *''Nauka Dubi'' *''Malyadan'' (1971) *''Abhaya o Srikanta'' *''Komol Gandher (1961)'' *''Abhaya o Srikanta'' *''Dainee (1961)'' *''Kathin Maya (1961)'' *''Kanchanmulya (1961)'' *''Sathi Hara'' (1961) *''Kancher Swarga (1962)'' *''Shubba Drishti (1962)'' *''Bandhan (1962)'' *''Saat Paake Bandha (1963)'' *''Dui Bari (1963)'' *''Chhaya Surya (1963)'' *''Nishipadma'' *''Sesh Porjonto (1969)'' *''Bagh Bondi Khela (1975)'' *''Datta (film)'' (1976) *''Surya Sakhi (1981)'' *''Dui Bhai'' *''Ahoban'' *''Barnochora'' *''Pita Putro'' *''Mouchak'' *''Hirer Shikal (1988)'' *''Mahaprithibi'' (1991) *''Tolly Lights'' *''Santan'' (1999) *''Chirodini Tumi Je Amar'' * ''Kathavasheshan'' (Malayalam) * ''Parineeta''
==Awards== For her lifetime contributions to Bengali cinema, in 1998 she received a star medal from the University of Calcutta from the then Governor of West Bengal Saiyid Nurul Hasan. She also got the presidential award for lifetime contribution to Bengali cinema and theater.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dey, Gita}} Category:1931 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Indian film actresses Category:Indian television actresses Category:Actresses in Bengali cinema Category:Indian stage actresses Category:Actresses from Kolkata Category:Bengali television actresses Category:20th-century Indian actresses Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award