Saswata Chatterjee (born 19 December 1970) is an Indian actor known for his work in Bengali cinema and television, with appearances in Hindi films. The son of actor Subhendu Chatterjee, he began his career with a Hindi television series directed by Saibal Mitra, based on Samaresh Majumdar's Kaalpurush. He gained recognition for portraying in detective series such as Byomkesh Bakshi and in a Feluda-based television series directed by Sandip Ray.
Chatterjee has received critical acclaim for his performances in several Bengali films, notably for his role in Meghe Dhaka Tara (2013), where he played a character inspired by Ritwik Ghatak. He achieved widespread recognition for his role as Bob Biswas, a contract killer, in Sujoy Ghosh's Hindi thriller Kahaani (2012). He gained further success by playing as antagonists and leading supporting characters in other bollywood and a Telugu movies, such as Jagga Jasoos (2017), Dhaakad (2022) and Kalki 2898 AD (2024), for all of which he received both recognition and criticism.
Saswata Chatterjee was born on 19 December 1970 to Subhendu Chatterjee, a noted Bengali actor. He lives in Kolkata and is married to Mohua Chatterjee, a teacher. They have a daughter together, Hiya Chatterjee. She is making her film debut with Rahool Mukherjee's Mon Maaney Na alongside Ritwik Bhowmik, who is also making his Bengali film debut with this film.
Chatterjee started his career with a Hindi serial directed by Saibal Mitra, based on Samaresh Majumdar's Kaalpurush. and a Hindi serial Krishnakant Ka Vasiyatnama on Doordarshan based on Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's novel Krishnakanter Will. Later, he acted in a television series directed by Sandip Ray, where he portrayed the character of Topshe, a sidekick of Feluda, the sleuth. After this television debut, his acting skills were appreciated and he gained popularity.
Chatterjee's acting in several Bengali films were critically appreciated. Some of his notable appearances include Tiyasha, C/O Sir, Proloy (2013), Jekhane Bhuter Bhoy, Meghe Dhaka Tara, Bhooter Bhabishyat, Abar Bomkesh (Chitrachor), Rang Milanti, Byomkesh Bakshi (Adim Ripu), The Bong Connection, Abar Aranye. He worked in the blockbuster Hindi film, Kahaani (2012) directed by Sujoy Ghosh starring Vidya Balan. In that film, he played the role of a cold-blooded killer named Bob Biswas. His role as Bob became so popular that Chatterjee describes it as:
The character went viral on Facebook and Twitter with thousands of followers. A graphic novel is in the making was also inspired from Bob's character.
Meghe Dhaka Tara was released in 2013, a film inspired by the life and works of Bengali film director Ritwik Ghatak and also depicts the socio-political environment of contemporary West Bengal during the Tebhaga and Naxalite movements. In this movie, he played the lead character as Nilkantha Bagchi.