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Young actress from Calcutta has made a niche for herself in the world of Indian cinema.A multifaceted performer, she is also an able dancer and writes as well. Her versatile performances have earned her accolades in the state as well as nationally.

According to Ritu, her initiation into the world of films was a well founded one. "I've had the good fortune of having grown up watching good films", she says. Right from the beginning, she was exposed to good films like Chokh and Tahader Katha since her family members never used to watch commercial films. Their taste was always very "arty". This introduced her to the world of good films. However, she was a little awkward with her friends when it came to discussing films because most of them were into commercial films.

Ritu's uncle, Dr. Indrajit Sengupta was another person who had a major influence on her. He was a good writer and besides encouraging her to write, also helped her develop her writing skills. Her columns used to appear in Anandalok. She used to write for Bangladesher Hriday. Speaking about her writings, she says, "I wrote more often when I was younger but now my writing has become more sporadic. Most of my writing, both in Bengali and English is very personal and has not been published."

Rituparna is an actress with many dimensions to her creative personality. "I've always had a terrific passion for dancing", she says. "I'm currently working on an original dance drama. The entire concept was mine, though I worked on the script with other people from Rabindra Bharati University." Ritu has done several dance dramas with them. She was also part of a group called Ved Pancham.

Though Rituparna has made a niche for herself in the world of films, surprisingly enough, when she stepped into the celluloid world, apart from her experience as a danseuse, she hadn't really received any formal training in acting. Unlike most actors and actresses, Ritu has never been involved in any way with drama and theatre. In her opinion, "people from a theatre background normally have a lot of mature acting experience and skills. The stage is an incredible training ground and it is the best medium when it comes to communicating with an audience. It is fulfilling for an actor to be on stage because you get an instant response from the audience. It teaches you how to be spontaneous, stage free, makes you comfortable with the lights and on the whole makes you technically very sound and gives you the inherent confidence to look up to something better."

The 'reel-life' story of Ritu's success reads like a fairy-tale, almost literally so.

Ritu got her first break in a fairy-tale-like serial called White Dove. That's where it all began for her. After that, she got noticed by Prabhat Roy, an eminent director of Calcutta who she credits as one of her mentors. He offered Ritu her first cinematic role in a film called Swet Patharer Thala. That was her debut really, as an actress. Though it was not a major role, it helped her launch her career on the big screen in a big way. In the film, Ritu played the supporting role to Aparna Sen. It was a story about two generations and she played the younger generation. The role was of a bubbly teenager with all the arrogance so characteristic of the age. Luckily for the aspiring actress, the film clicked, and that too, in a very big way, bagging a National Award for Best Bengali Film.

Following the success of Swet Patharer Thala, Ritu got a good offer from Ananda Bazar Productions to star in Cinemawala, a serial which became very popular. The story was that of a sales girl who followed her dreams and in the course of time became a great actress. "It was a very interesting experience for me", says Ritu, "because of the similarity it bore to my life. Here I was, a newcomer trying to create a niche for herself in the world of films. My performance got some very positive reviews, which was a very encouraging thing and gave me the confidence to pursue films". However even at this stage, Ritu wasn't serious about taking acting up as a career. She did it purely because she enjoyed doing it.

After this, Ritu started getting many good offers. Her first two films were very big hits. One was of course, Swet Patharer Thala and the other was Sujan Sakhi. This was followed by a string of successful films like Nag Panchami and Maner Manush, after which she was paired with Prasenjit in a lot of movies and their journey as a hit pair began. Ritu also did films with Mithun before she left for Bombay to do a telefilm with Hema Malini, called Mohini.

At this point Ritu got to know Partha Ghosh who gave her a major break in Hindi Films with a film called Teesra Kaun, which was produced by NN Sippy. However, Bombay didn't prove to be very good for her because she didn't have the keen competitive attitude which is essential to survive in Bombay. Besides, Ritu was also unfamiliar with the work procedures and culture of Bombay, which is very different from that of Calcutta. Other than this, another thing that kept her from concentrating on Bombay was her involvement with the South-Indian film industry. Around the same time, Ritu was also shooting a couple of films in Ooty with Mithun. Most importantly, since she was getting recognition for her work in Calcutta, she didn't think it would be appropriate for her to hanker after success in Bombay."