Riya Sen (born Riya Dev Varma; 24 January 1981) is an Indian actress and model. who predominantly appears in Hindi, Bengali, English, Telugu and Tamil films. Sen comes from a royal background; her father Bharat Dev Varma hails from the royal family of Tripura. He was the son of Ila Devi, a princess of Cooch Behar and nephew of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. Sen's mother Moon Moon Sen and grandmother Suchitra Sen were reputed veteran actresses. She began her acting career when she was 5 years old, playing her mother's daughter on screen for the first time. Later in 1991 she worked as a child actress in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget comedy directed by N. Chandra. Some of her other notable films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2003) in Hinglish, and Malayalam horror film Ananthabhadram (2005). She won the Star Guide Award as best actress for her performance in Noukadubi. Sen was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of seventeen in 1998. Since then, she has appeared in music videos, television advertisements, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. Sen has worked as an activist and appeared in an AIDS awareness music video with the aim of dispelling popular myths about the disease. She also helped raise funds for pediatric eye-care and underprivileged children. From Wikipedia
