Mamata Shankar

Mamata Shankar is an Indian actress. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has acted in films by directors including Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddha-dev Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh. In addition to being an actress, she is a dancer and choreographer. Mamata was born on 7 January 1955 to the dancers Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar. She was the niece of Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Her brother, Ananda Shankar, was an Indo-Western fusion musician.She received her training in dance and choreography at the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre, Calcutta under Amala Shankar. Shankar made her film debut with Mrigayaa in 1976, directed by Mrinal Sen. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film for the year. Shankar is married, and runs the Udayan - Mamta Shankar Dance Company, which was founded in 1986, and which travels extensively throughout the world, with the 'Mamata Shankar Ballet Troupe'.