Thread by @Paperclip_In

From Shantiniketan to the city of dreams, Bombay, to the city of Fashion and ancient history, Rome, we follow the tale of a young Bengali woman who was the eye of a storm in the late 1950s. Hop in. 1/18

In the 1960s a boutique on Rome's fashion street, the Via Borgognona, sold exotic Indian handicrafts and clothing. Its clients included Italian film artists to Hollywood A-listers. However, the star attraction of the shop was not the objects, but the lady behind the desk. 2/18

Meet Sonali Senroy, a young Bengali woman who landed in Rome in the late 1950s under tumultuous circumstances that some even say was a scandal. 3/18

Let’s take a step back. A young Sonali had moved to Bombay in the early 1950s, accompanying her husband Harisadhan Dasgupta. Hari and Sonali had been married for a few years and they looked a happy couple, but little did Sonali know that her life was going to change forever. 4/18

Around 1956 Italian filmmaker, Roberto Rossellini arrived in India on the invitation of the then Prime Minister, Nehru, to make a series of documentary films on the country’s progress a decade after independence. Rossellini made Bombay his base of operations. 5/18

When Hari heard Rossellini was in town he sensed an opportunity. He was an ambitious man, and having served as an assistant director to the French filmmaker Jean Renoir, he was hoping to do the same here, but Rossellini had other ideas. 6/18

When Hari was not making any headway, he took a drastic step and introduced Sonali to Rossellini, and asked her to be a part of Rossellini’s team. Rossellini, whose own marriage was said to have been falling apart, was instantly smitten by this 27-year-old Bengali woman. 7/18

Initially, Sonali wasn't keen to be a part of Rossellini’s team and she refused to be part of their activities. But Hari was persuasive, and Rossellini used all the charm he had to sweep her off her feet. 8/18

Jean Herman who was Rossellini’s assistant director on his Indian sojourn recalled many years later: 9/18

‘To him, she personified the nobility, beauty, and intelligence of India. He was a compulsive talker. She, on the other hand, hardly said a word. Her silences were a mystery to him. And the only way he could unveil the mystery was to seduce her.” 10/18

The situation at home had become very uncomfortable for Sonali. Her husband had unceremoniously thrown her out and the paparazzi were running headlines for weeks on the affair. Sonali, who had never thought of leaving her country, was forced to do so. 11/18

With some help from Nehru, and posing as a wife to M.F Hussain, who was a close friend of Rossellini, Sonali finally managed to get out of the country and move to Paris. Rossellini joined her a few months later. 12/18

The headlines were scathing, to say the least - ‘A doe-eyed Bengali beauty leaves husband, child to elope with celebrated Italian filmmaker'. However, for Sonali this felt like a start of a new life away from the prying cameras and angry relatives. 13/18

After the couple headed back to Rome, it didn’t take long for Sonali to become an integral part of the city’s vibrant culture and social circuits. She would go on to set up Varuna which sold Indian handicrafts and handlooms, and it became quite the rage. 14/18

She had a keen eye for quality and her shop became a successful business venture, roping in some big clients from within the city and outside of it. 15/18

Sonali’s relationship with Rossellini too fell apart after a few years. But by then Sonali was a household name in Rome’s cultural circles and had moved far beyond Rossellini’s shadow. 16/18

For the family Sonali left behind in India, she always remained a mystery and an enigma. Her eldest son Raja recalled in an interview to ToI that during a trip to Europe, he persuaded Sonali to meet him and his wife but she barely spoke to him for five minutes. 17/18

Sonali Senroy died on June 7, 2014. It's difficult to typecast Sonali and fathom the reasons for her actions. So let’s not do it; let her remain a feisty, unabashed woman who chose to live life on her own terms. 18/18

Sources: Ma didn't miss me, Interview with Raja Dasgupta after his mother’s demise, by Subhro Niyogi, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/36…; An affair to remember, by SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY, frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary…;

Under Her Spell: Roberto Rossellini by Dileep Padgaonkar (Penguin Books India - Viking)

Image Attributes: Alamy Stock photos, Rotten Tomatoes