# Sreelekha Mitra (শ্রীলেখা মিত্র)
**Sreelekha Mitra** (শ্রীলেখা মিত্র) is an Indian actress who works in Bengali cinema and television, known for films including *Hothat Brishti* (1998), *Kantatar* (2005), *Rainbow Jelly* (2018), and the lead role of Ela in Aditya Vikram Sengupta's *Once Upon a Time in Calcutta* (2021), which premiered at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/) • [2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/). She was born in Kolkata, India[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sreelekha_mitra). Databases disagree on her birth year: IMDb gives 1972[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/), while Rotten Tomatoes, NetflixMovies, and the German database Moviepilot give 30 August 1975[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sreelekha_mitra) • [4](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/sreelekha-mitra) • [5](https://www.moviepilot.de/people/srilekha-mitra).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Kolkata, India; 30 August, with sources giving 1972 (IMDb) or 1975 (Rotten Tomatoes, NetflixMovies)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sreelekha_mitra) |
| Screen debut era | Bengali television serials in the mid-1990s, including *Ei toh Jiban* and *Pratibimba*[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/) |
| Film span | 15 credited films from *Hothat Brishti* (1998) to *Pariah Vol. 1* (2024); drama is her most common genre, with 10 of 15 films[6](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sreelekha-mitra) |
| Signature role | Ela, the lead in *Once Upon a Time in Calcutta* (2021), premiered at the Venice Film Festival[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/) |
| Major award | Best Actress, New York Indian Film Festival 2022, for *Once Upon a Time in Calcutta*; also nominated at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2021 and 2022[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/awards/) |
| Other work | Director of short films including *Ebong Chhad*, screened at the Dhaka International Film Festival[8](https://www.prothomalo.com/entertainment/tollywood/bgcjwtihe9) |
## Television beginnings and film career
Mitra is an [English literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-literature) graduate who, drawn to the camera, entered a television career in the mid-1990s with serials such as *Ei toh Jiban* and *Pratibimba*. She has said that television at the time was realistic in its execution of content, and that she later stopped accepting television work as its quality declined[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/).
Her filmography, as cataloged by film-database sites, runs from *Hothat Brishti* (1998) and *Baba Keno Chakor* (1998) through *Apon Holo Por* (2000), *Annadata* (2002), *Kantatar* (2005), *Ashchorjyo Prodeep* (2013), *Rainbow Jelly* (2018), *Sweater* (2019), and *Borunbabur Bondhu* (2020) to *Pariah Vol. 1* (2024)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sreelekha_mitra) • [6](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sreelekha-mitra). The 2010s were her busiest decade, with six films, and drama accounts for ten of her fifteen listed credits[6](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sreelekha-mitra). In *Kantatar*, directed by Bappaditya Bandopadhyay, she played an illegal immigrant, a role the *Indian Express* describes as critically acclaimed; she also played opposite [Prosenjit Chatterjee](https://www.edgepedia.org/prosenjit-chatterjee) in the commercial film *Annadata* (2002)[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/).
**Typecasting and limited offers.** Mitra has spoken repeatedly about the gap between praise for her acting and the volume of work she receives. In a 2018 interview around the release of *Rainbow Jelly*, she said offers come rarely, that she no longer phones producers to remind them of her, and that she supports herself also through advertising, events, stage shows, and writing[9](https://www.anandabazar.com/entertainment/celebrity-interview-sreelekha-mitra-opens-up-about-her-professional-and-personal-life-dgtlx-1.811117). The *Indian Express* reported that for much of her career she had to settle for bit roles, the parallel lead, or the hero's sister, and that her outspokenness has cost her projects[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/).
## Once Upon a Time in Calcutta
In Aditya Vikram Sengupta's *Once Upon a Time in Calcutta*, Mitra plays Ela, a woman in a dead marriage whose daughter's death opens the film, set against a city in transition in which a dinosaur statue gives way to a flyover and traditional Rabindra sangeet to its remix. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and the *Indian Express* called the role, with Mitra at the center of a defunct cabaret stage, a role of a lifetime in her more-than-two-decade career[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/).
The role brought her international recognition. She won Best Actress at the New York Indian Film Festival in 2022 for the film[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/awards/) • [10](https://bangla.aajtak.in/cinema-and-tv-serial-news/tollywood-bengali-cinema/story/tollywood-actress-sreelekha-mitra-won-best-actress-award-new-york-indian-film-festival-once-upon-time-calcutta-rjk-374047-2022-05-15), and was nominated for the same award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in both 2021 and 2022[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/awards/). In 2024 she criticized award organizers for nominating her in the Best Supporting Actress category for the same film despite her playing the lead, and said she boycotted the ceremony; she stated she has never lobbied for awards[11](https://www.hindustantimes.com/bangla/entertainment/i-live-with-self-respect-sreelekha-mitra-slams-award-organizers-over-best-supporting-actress-nomination-271790023286459.html).
## Public statements and politics
**Nepotism debate.** In 2020, amid the nepotism debate following the death of Bollywood actor [Sushant Singh Rajput](https://www.edgepedia.org/sushant-singh-rajput), Mitra publicly named several industry figures, saying the deaths acted as a catalyst for grievances she had carried, including professional neglect, depression, and thoughts of suicide[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/). In a 2021 interview after Venice she said the industry had not changed, that offers still come rarely, and that small groups of directors and producers prefer to work with a fixed set of people[12](https://www.anandabazar.com/app/entertainment/exclusive-interview-of-actress-sreelekha-mitra/cid/1310374).
She campaigned for the Left Front in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, appearing at rallies and public meetings, and said in interviews that she is a Left supporter but has no intention of entering active politics[12](https://www.anandabazar.com/app/entertainment/exclusive-interview-of-actress-sreelekha-mitra/cid/1310374).
## Work beyond acting
Mitra has moved into directing and cross-border projects. She directed the short film *Ebong Chhad* ("And the Roof"), which she presented at the Dhaka International Film Festival, after an earlier short, *Better Half*[8](https://www.prothomalo.com/entertainment/tollywood/bgcjwtihe9). She also acts in *Kolkata Diaries*, a web film produced by the Bangladeshi company Big R Entertainment, playing Sharmi, an employee of the protagonist's firm; she had earlier worked with Bangladeshi creators in the telefilm *Bhalobasha Darjeeling* by Rashed Raha and [Khairul Basar](https://www.edgepedia.org/khairul-basar)[8](https://www.prothomalo.com/entertainment/tollywood/bgcjwtihe9). Her family roots lie in Ghatmajhi village in Madaripur, from where her ancestors migrated to India during Partition; she visited Bangladesh in 2017 with her father Santosh Mitra in search of the ancestral home[8](https://www.prothomalo.com/entertainment/tollywood/bgcjwtihe9).
## References
1. [Sreelekha Mitra, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/)
2. ["Nobody could have done this role better than me": Sreelekha Mitra, The Indian Express (2021)](https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/nobody-could-have-done-this-role-better-than-me-sreelekha-mitra-7610489/)
3. [Sreelekha Mitra, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sreelekha_mitra)
4. [Sreelekha Mitra Movies on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/sreelekha-mitra)
5. [Srilekha Mitra, Moviepilot.de](https://www.moviepilot.de/people/srilekha-mitra)
6. [Sreelekha Mitra: Movies & Filmography, What's After the Movie](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sreelekha-mitra)
7. [Sreelekha Mitra – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2756056/awards/)
8. [ঢাকার ওয়েব সিনেমায় শ্রীলেখা মিত্র, Prothom Alo](https://www.prothomalo.com/entertainment/tollywood/bgcjwtihe9)
9. [Sreelekha Mitra interview on Rainbow Jelly, Anandabazar Patrika (2018)](https://www.anandabazar.com/entertainment/celebrity-interview-sreelekha-mitra-opens-up-about-her-professional-and-personal-life-dgtlx-1.811117)
10. [Sreelekha Mitra wins Best Actress at New York Indian Film Festival, Aaj Tak Bangla (2022)](https://bangla.aajtak.in/cinema-and-tv-serial-news/tollywood-bengali-cinema/story/tollywood-actress-sreelekha-mitra-won-best-actress-award-new-york-indian-film-festival-once-upon-time-calcutta-rjk-374047-2022-05-15)
11. [Sreelekha Mitra on award nomination, Hindustan Times Bangla](https://www.hindustantimes.com/bangla/entertainment/i-live-with-self-respect-sreelekha-mitra-slams-award-organizers-over-best-supporting-actress-nomination-271790023286459.html)
12. [Sreelekha Mitra interview, Anandabazar Patrika (2021)](https://www.anandabazar.com/app/entertainment/exclusive-interview-of-actress-sreelekha-mitra/cid/1310374)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of South Asia › Indian screen actors, 2000s onward › Surnames L to Pr*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license