Bhaswati Basu

• Name — Bhaswati Basu • Born — 5 March 1973 • Birthplace — Bhubaneswar • Education — Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya • Known for — Acting in films, television serials and theatre; poetry • Spouse — Vijay Mandal • Children — Dishani • Father — Asim Basu • Mother — Gita Basu • Awards — Best Supporting Actress, Odisha State Film Awards (2005)

Bhaswati Basu was born on 5 March 1973 in Bapuji Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Her mother is Gita Basu and her father, Asim Basu, renowned painter, actor, director, writer and art director. She has two siblings, Atasi and Gautam. Basu married Vijay Mandal and they have a daughter Dishani. Basu graduated in drama from Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya. She served as guest faculty at the institute after completing her studies.

Basu began her stage career with the theatre group Satabdira Kalakar, and, notably, has directed plays like Aparna, Dine Ratire, Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya and Tyaga. Basu starred in over twenty five plays, wrote the script for nineteen productions and directed thirteen. In 2009, Basu directed Aparna, her adaptation of the Bengali play of the same name by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya. Three years later, she directed Kandhei Ghara, her own translation of the Henrik Ibsen play, A Doll's House, for the institute's Natya Saptah theatre festival. Basu adapted the Satabdira Kalakar production of Charandas Chor, a famous Habib Tanvir play.

Basu has acted in several Odia serials. • Title — Telecaster — Director • Ananya — ETV Network — Debananda Nayak • Badhu Nuhen Bandhu — DD Odia — Ajit Das • Sei Kahani — DD Odia — Rajat Paikaraya • Ananya Anupama — DD Odia — Jyoti Prakash • Dharmatma — DD Odia — Gudiya Mahapatra • Nila Mastrani — DD Odia — Sadhu Meher • Budha Sankhari — DD Odia — Tapas Bose • Queen — Tarang TV • Abujhaa Ae Man — Tarang TV • Gayatri — ETV Odia — Sudhanshu Sahu • Bhagya Bidhata — ETV Odia — Sudhanshu Sahu • Ashar Aakash — Kalinga TV • Badhu — Sarthak TV • Maaya — Tarang TV • Sinhadwar — Manjari TV

When her father died in 2017, Basu returned to writing poetry which she occasionally had done in college. Having written 70 poems, she published them as the anthology Bata Abata in 2021 In 2023, another volume of her poems, Raga Malkosh, was published.

Basu also helped organize the 2018 Asim Utsav, commemorating the first death anniversary of her father, that staged three of his plays. She was in charge of conceptualizing the Odisha Pavilion at the India International Trade Fair in New Delhi. She also organised, along with Subhashree Shubhashmita Mishra, an informal event called Cafetaria, in which litterateurs discuss politics and policy for a young audience.

• 2005 Jiwan Mrutyu • 2006 Kathantara • 2017 Khyanikaa: The Lost Idea • 2019 Rasagola • 2021 Kokoli: Fish Out of Water • 2023 Phalguna Chaitra • 2025 Indradhanu