Mala Sen Biography 
Mala Sen was an Indian-British writer and human rights activist who lived during the period, 3 June 1947 – 21 May 2011. She was married to Farrukh Dhondy, an Indian-born British writer, playwright and screenwriter. She was a race equality activist. She died of oesophageal cancer, on 21 May 2011 at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 63. India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi and Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death and Female Infanticide in Modern India are her published works. 1994 highly acclaimed Bollywood film, Bandit Queen directed by Shekhar Kapoor was based on her book, India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi. The movie won critics’ acclaim and many National film awards including best female actress.
She was born on 3 June 1947 in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand as the daughter of Lt-Gen Lionel Proteep Sen and Kalyani Gupta. Her parents separated when she was only 6 years old. She completed her schooling in Dehradun, and then moved to Mumbai for doing her graduation studies. In 1965 she eloped to England with Farrukh Dhondy, and in 1968 they got married. However like her parents, they too separated legally in 1976. But they kept good friendship. As an activist, her career began while at London. She got interested in the subject of race relations, and later she fought against the discrimination based on race constraints.
Sen was an active member of the British Black Panthers movement, and also Race Today Collective. Sen was invited to research television documentaries, and she was fully involved in this field. She got attracted to the life of Phoolan Devi, and she wrote a book based on her life. Later it was made a feature film on big screen.
Published: October 16, 2018
Updated: October 16, 2018
