She’d already turned heads for her stunning good looks and stellar performances in films as different as Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta, Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali, Navdeep Singh’s Manorama — Six Feet Under and Reema Kagti’s Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd.

Is Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma’s elder daughter actor Raima Sen’s career finally taking off with a clutch of new Bollywood releases in 2009? This year will also see Raima playing roles of substance in Ghosh’s Nauka Dubi and Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife.In Nauka Dubi, Raima plays the heroine (Hemnalini) — an educated and sophisticated woman, who’s the perfect foil to sister Riya, who plays a village girl. This is the fifth time that Ghosh has cast her in one of his movies and he reckons she has played the role as a mature heroine to perfection. She has even sung a song in the film.

Says Ghosh: “She has nobility and the poise of a typical Tagore heroine. (The original story was written byRabindranath Tagore). Though you won’t see Raima prancing around trees in commercial Bollywood cinema, I think she is shaping up to be a fine actor.”

Raima loved the experience of working with Ghosh, who has always brought out the best in her. “Rituda is like a father-figure to me. But the role of Hemnalini was interesting since in real life I’m not at all pragmatic like Tagore’s heroine”, says Raima. Her portrayal of Ashalata in Ghosh’s Chokher Bali won critical acclaim.

Though Raima made her mark in Bollywood as K.K. Menon’s fun-loving wife in Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd two years ago, it has taken her time to land plum roles. But now she’s looking forward to a number of releases like Vinay Shukla’s Mirch, in which she plays a female lead in two stories out of four.

Shukla says he decided to cast Raima for her innocent, vulnerable looks that combined perfectly with her acting skills. “She retains the innocence she had 10 years ago. Her eyes are very expressive,” says Shukla.

Raima says she shares an easy rapport with Vinay. “I’m cast opposite Shreyas Talpade and Rajpal Yadav in these two stories. Vinay gave me my first break in his film Godmother in 1999,” says the doe-eyed actress, who now shares an apartment with her sister, actor Ria Sen in Mumbai.

Raima’s also playing the female lead in Ruchi Narain’s film, Jo Palte Nahi Woh Rickshaw Kya (one of the 10 stories in Mumbai Cutting). She plays a girl who gets a taste of freedom when she arrives in Mumbai but learns her limits the hard way. “Raima was suitable for the part since she’s a very naughty girl herself. I saw that mischievous glint in her eyes ,” says Narain. Mumbai Cutting is a collage of 10 films on the metropolis — each shot by a different director.

Playing the young widow (Sandhya) in The Japanese Wife was also a tough experience. She had to attend a workshop where she had to cook, clean, chop veggies, swab for 15 days, which she admits she has never really done. Her co-stars are Rahul Bose and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku.

Shot in Japan, Sunderbans and Calcutta, the film’s about the relationship between the three characters. “I used to get intimidated by Reenadi but she was so affectionatethat I ended up liking her,” said Raima.

Raima will also do Calcutta director Kaushik Ganguly’s Chhaya Chobi, in which director Rituparno Ghosh plays a homosexual person. “I’m excited about working with Raima. But if there are common scenes, then expect me to play teacher again”, quips Rituparno.

Then, there’s Teen Patti, directed by Leena Yadav, in which Raima plays the role of R. Madhavan’s fiancée. “She emotes with all the features on her face,” says Yadav, who’s expecting a July-August release for the Amitabh Bachchan starrer.

Raima has also worked with Mira Nair in her short film on AIDS, titled Migration, one of the four films which were part of AIDS Jaago, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Aparna Sen (right) directs Raima and Moushumi Chatterjee on the sets of The Japanese Wife

And is she finally making it in Bollywood? “I’ve never had to go around asking for work. I’m not aggressive. But finally I think I’m getting the right kind of roles”, says Raima, who often turns to her mother, Moon Moon Sen for advice.

Raima’s also very close to her grandmother Suchitra Sen (some say Raima resembles her a lot). “She asks us about our films but never intrudes. We loving chatting over lunch”, says Raima.

Back in Mumbai she has a tough daily routine. Raima makes it a point to go swimming and do power yoga lessons every day. When she’s not shooting, she loves to snuggle up with a book or simply play Scrabble. She’s has also taken salsa classes “for fun”.

Her sister Riya is the homebody and even cooks for Raima. The two also have a lot of common friends and hang out together when they are free.

Raima also makes an occasional appearance on the ramp — she made waves at the Kolkata Fashion Week — in a traditional hand-woven sari. She has also walked for LIFW 2009 and modelled for cosmetics major Lakme and feels this is an extension of her career as an actor.

But if Raima has one big dream, it’s working with Shah Rukh Khan in a film. Working with Yash Chopra and Anurag Basu are also unfulfilled goals. She’s off for a lunch date with sister Ria, mom and her grandmother, Suchitra Sen. Her holiday in her hometown has just begun.