Swastika Mukherjee

Swastika Mukherjee (born 13 December 1980) is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actor Santu Mukherjee. Mukherjee first appeared on screens in the TV serial Devdasi and made her film debut in 2001 in Hemanter Pakhi. Her first lead role came with Mastan (2004).

Mukherjee spent her childhood in a self-described "simple life" with her father Santu Mukhopadhyay, younger sister Ajopa and mother Gopa. Her favorite films were Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. She was educated at Carmel School, Kolkata, St. Teresa' School, and Gokhale Memorial School.

In 1998 at the age of 18, she married singer Pramit Sen, son of Rabindra Sangeet singer exponent Sagar Sen. The marriage was unhappy, lasting two years before the couple separated. She accused him of physically abusing her and locking her out of their home when she was pregnant. She filed a charge against him for cruelty (it was later dismissed). According to Mukherjee, Sen filed for divorce in 2000 but changed his mind when she became successful in her acting career. She had one daughter from the marriage, Anwesha, born in 2000.

In 2001 Mukherjee enrolled at the Ananda Shankar Centre for Culture, learning dance from veteran Tanusree Shankar. She was in a relationship with actor Jeet, but broke up due to gossip that Jeet was dating Koel Mallick. Later, she began a relationship with Parambrata Chatterjee on the set of Brake Fail. As she was still technically married to Pramit Sen, he filed a charge against Chatterjee for criminal adultery and enticement of a married woman. They separated in 2010 when Chatterjee moved to London.

While working on a history degree at Jadavpur University Mukherjee was spotted by the director of the TV serial Devdasi who convinced her to act in his production. She went on to appear in other serials like Ek Akasher Niche and Protibimbo.

Mukherjee made her film debut in 2003 with the film Hemanter Pakhi directed by Urmi Chakraborty. In this film she played a small role. Her first lead role came with Mastan directed by Ravi Kinagi.

During the filming of Mastan she began dating her co-star Jeet. They went on to appear in several films together, including Kranti, Krishnakanter Will and Partner. Mukherjee has recently appeared in Bye Bye Bangkok and made her Hindi debut in the anthology film Mumbai Cutting. She earned accolades for her cameo role in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015).

On May 2014, Mukherjee was hospitalized in an alleged suicide bid. Under strong local protest Kolkata police detained Mukherjee's boyfriend Sumon Mukhopadhyay.

On 4 November 2014 she was caught on CCTV cameras tucking in a gold earring worth $255 (Rs.12,139) in her handbag at a jewellery showroom in a posh mall in Singapore. The shop owner made a complaint against Mukherjee to the organizer of the film festival, but no police complaint was lodged against her. Mukherjee denied the charge and claimed that it might have happened "accidentally".