Riya Sen is an Indian film actress and model. Riya, who hails from a family of actors including her grandmother Suchitra Sen, mother Moon Moon Sen and sister Raima Sen, began her acting career in 1991 as a child artiste in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget sex comedy directed by N. Chandra. Some of her other films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2001) in Hinglish, director David Dhawan's comedy film, Shaadi No. 1 (2005) and director-cinematographer Santhosh Sivan's Malayalam horror film Ananthabhadram (2005).
Riya was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of sixteen. Since then, she has appeared in music videos, television commercials, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. Riya has worked as an activist and appeared in an AIDS awareness music video with the aim of dispelling popular myths about the disease. She also helped raise funds for pediatric eye-care. Riya has faced controversies such as a MMS clip with actor Ashmit Patel, her semi-nude photograph on photographer Dabboo Ratnani's annual calendar and her on-screen kisses in a conservative Indian film industry.
Riya first appeared as a child artist in the film Vishkanya in 1991, where she played the role of the young Pooja. At the age of 18, National Film Awards winning director Bharathiraja's Tamil film, Taj Mahal (2000), which did not achieve commercial success. She was scheduled to make her Bollywood film debut in Love You Hamesha, opposite actor Akshaye Khanna; however, the film was stalled, and she ultimately made her debut in N. Chandra's Style (2001). This low-budget sex comedy was the first commercial success in over a decade for the director, whose previous successes included Ankush (1986) and Tezaab (1988). A launch pad for Riya, cast in the female lead along with fellow-newcomers, Sharman Joshi, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal, the film pioneered a trend of commercial success for small budget films in India. Riya and the second female lead of the film were replaced by aspirant actresses Sunali Joshi and Jaya Seal in Xcuse Me, the sequel of Style.
Her next success was Jhankaar Beats, a comedy revolving around the music of legendary composer R D Burman, which saw her playing a small and glamorous role alongside Shayan Munshi, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna and Sanjay Suri. Produced by Pritish Nandy, publishing director of The Times of India, and directed by debutant director Sujoy Ghosh, the film was made on a budget of Rs. 25 million (US$525,000), marking the sixth in a row of small to medium budget films made by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC).
Despite being part of a wave of offbeat films that mostly failed to make an impact at the box office, it surprisingly drew public attention upon its release, which led to a commercial success among a restricted audience targeted by a selective release in twenty cities. It was one of the first films made in Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English. In 2005, she starred in Shaadi No. 1, which saw her sharing screen time with Esha Deol, Soha Ali Khan and Ayesha Takia, without anyone getting established as the female lead. This comedy, which is based on the theme of modern marriage, was directed by David Dhawan, a renowned film director from this genre.
and portrayed the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless.
