Riya Sen is an Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, English, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malyalam movies. Riya was born on January 24, 1981 to Actress Moon Moon Sen who was from a filmy family and Bharat Dev Varma who hails from a Royal family of Tripura. Riya's Grand Mother was Suchitra Sen, a renowned actress of her time. Actress Raima Sen is Riya's Sister. Though their official surnames are Dev Varma, they adopted mother's last name when came into the industry.

Riya studied at Loreto house and Rani Birla Girl's College in Kolkata. After it she took admission in National Institute of Fashion Technology and made designing jewelry her hobby. She has also designed her wardrobe in many films and commercials herself. Riya is a Trained Kathak Dancer. She also learned Belly dancing. Riya started her career through modeling. She featured in Falguni Pathak's Music Video 'Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi' at the tender age of sixteen. She was identified as a performer in music video and featured in several music videos like Jagjit Singh's 'Jab Samne Tum', Asha Bhosle's 'Jhumka Gira re', Lata Mangeshkar's 'Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin', Sonu Nigam's 'Jeena hai Tere liye', and Shaan's 'Sutta Maro'.

She worked in a Tamil film but debuted in Bollywood in 2001 with N.Chandra's 'Style' opposite new-comer Sharman Joshi. The film was a low budget Sex comedy . It got popular with the audience and paved way for successful low budget hit movies thereafter. She had some small roles in 'Dil Vil Pyar Vyar' and 'Qayamat' but those movies could not do much. She then featured in a Hinglish film 'Jhankaar Beats' a dedication to the music of legendary music director R. D. Burman. She was placed opposite Shayan Munshi along with Juhi Chawla, Rinke Khanna,Sanjay Suri and Rahul Bose among other actors of the movie. The film was a hit. She also appeared in an English movie 'It was raining that Night' a remake of a Bengali movie. She also appeared in 'Shaadi No. 1' and 'Silsiilay'. Then she featured in successful comedy 'Apna Sapna Money Money' (2006). She did many item numbers and also appeared in an Item Song of 'Heyy Babyy'. She was a Part of Malayalam Hit Movie 'Ananthabhadram'. She had not had a best of her career like her sister but is perceived as a Sex Symbol like her mother. Her sister is more compared to Grandmother Actress Suchitra Sen. Riya has done a few humanitarian works and has featured on many magazine covers. She has also walked for many designers on Ramp and was a part of Daboo Ratnani's Calendar for 5 consecutive years and is the only actress to do so. She has also been in controversies for her boldness in movies and personal life.

Riya Sen will next dazzle the screen in 'Zindagi 50-50' and 'Rabba Main Kya Karoon'.

Filmography

As Actor