Arpita: From suburbs to South Kolkata high-rises – Times of India

KOLKATA: From a model-actor and nail artist living in a humble home at Belgharia’s Dewanpara to an actor and film producer owning multiple flats in posh high-rise complexes in south Kolkata, Arpita Mukherjee has had a steady rise over two decades. A few years ago, she replaced actor Rituparna Sengupta as the poster girl for Naktala Udayan Sangha, patronized by arrested minister Partha Chatterjee. But nothing could account for the Rs 21.2 crore in cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 79 lakh and Rs 54-lakh forex, along with 22 mobiles, seized from her Tollgyunge flat.
Sources said Mukherjee began a career in modelling in around 2004 and also made a name for herself as a nail artist. Over the years, she opened three nail art showrooms in Patuli, on Lake View Road and in Barrackpore. While working on her modelling career, she began getting small roles in Bengali films, some beside popular actors, such as Prosenjit Chatterjee and Jeet.
Director and producer Anup Sengupta, who directed Mukherjee in three films, was “dumbfounded” by the revelations. “Someone introduced me to Arpita when I was looking for a girl to play the heroine’s friend for ‘Mama Bhagne’ (2010), starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Ranjit Mallick and Ananya Chatterjee. In 2011, she again acted in my ‘Bangla Banchao’, starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Paoli, Shaheb Bhattacherjee. I had cast her as a second heroine. I am dumbfounded to see how she has amassed so much wealth. When I worked with her, she came from a humble background and rode a second-hand car to work,” he said.
BJP’s Kolkata district president Sanghamitra Chaudhuri had cast Mukherjee as the lead in her feature film, titled ‘The Bhoot of Roseville’ in 2011, and another film, titled ‘Bidehir Khonje Rabindranath’ the same year. “Arpita was introduced to me by Siddhartha Sinha, who was the producer of her first film, ‘Sparsh’. Back then, she came across as an innocent girl with a good fashion sense. She came from an orthodox family. She didn’t even own a car and would travel by public transport to come to shoots. Before I joined BJP in 2013, Arpita used to be in touch with me and take my suggestions regarding her film career. But once I joined BJP, our interactions stopped. Once I met her at a party, where she said she was working in Oriya and south Indian films,” said Chaudhuri, who was the National Award jury member last year.
Arpita has a younger sister, who is married, and her mother lives in her parental home on Abdul Latif Street in Belgharia. “Arpita used to visit me twice a week. My husband had a central government job. After he passed away, Arpita was offered the job but she refused. She was into modelling and acting. She had worked in a number of Oriya films. She also had her own production house,” said Minati Mukherjee, Arpita’s mother.