Aparna Sen was born in 1945 in Calcutta, and in her early youth, she was highly impressed by European cinema, which strongly affected her art life. She started her film career as an actress with Sampatti by Satyajit Ray. But it was twenty years after her appearance in cinema that Aparna Sen made her first movie 36 Chawranghee Lane which stunned critics and audiences alike, and won The Grand Prix at the Manila International Film Festival and the National Award for Best Direction in India. Her directorial work also includes memorable films such as Sati, Parama, and Yugant. Daughter of the renowned film historian, critic, and filmmaker, Chidanda Das Gupta, her daughter, Konkana Sen is again an acmmoplished daughter, whom she has directed in other acclaimed movies including Mr. and Mrs Iyer and 15 Park Avenue.

Ms. Sen has served on juries at many international film festivals, such as International Film Festival of India, Moscow International Film Festival, and the Hawaii International Film Festival. Aparna Sen has also been honored with some of India's most prestigious awards including the Padmashree Award by the President of India and the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award.

And if this isn't enough, she is also the editor of Sananda, West Bengal's highest circulated woman's magazine in Bengali, brought out by the Ananda Bazar Patrika group.