Riya Sen, born Riya Dev Varma, is an Indian actress and model. She has appeared in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu films and several music videos.

Sen completed her studies at Loreto House in Kolkata, an INCSE school, and later studied Philosophy at Uccha Madhyamik School Rani Birla Girls' College. She did a course at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai.

After completing her education, Sen took an acting course in London from Pinewood Actors Studio and voice and dubbing classes. She has also completed a course on branding from the University of Arts in London, a course in Fashion and Image Styling from Paris, and a course in cooking from the blue elephant culinary school in Thailand.

Sen first appeared as a child artiste in one of her mother's movies Vishkanya (1991) (1991), when she was five years old. She played the role of young Pooja Bedi.

Sen got her first share of recognition in Chudi (Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi) (1998) Falguni Pathak's music video, after which she appeared in several advertisements, fashion shows, music videos, and film magazines.

In the year 2000, Sen made her debut in Tamil Films with Taj Mahal (1999), which was written by Mani Ratnam and R Selvaraj, and the music of the movie was composed by A.R. Rahman.

Sen got her commercial success with her movie Style (2001), which was a Hindi low-budget movie. The movie was directed by N. Chandra and starred Sharman Joshi and Sahil Khan. This movie saw Sen play the role of a college girl.

Sen's next performance was Jhankaar Beats (2003), produced by Pritish Nandy and directed and written by Sujoy Ghosh. The movie also starred Rahul Bose, Juhi Chawla, and Rinke Khanna.

Sen has also been part of a few more movies like Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003), directed by Harry Baweja and starring Ajay Devgn, Suniel Shetty and Sanjay Kapoor, and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006) (2006), directed by Sangeeth Sivan and starring Riteish Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Suniel Shetty and Koena Mitra.

Sen has been a part of an item song in James (2005) directed by Rohit Jugraj and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. She also appeared in Sajid Khan's Heyy Babyy (2007).

Besides Hindi movies, Sen has acted in several Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, and English films. Sen's English movie It Was Raining That Night (2005) also featured her mother, Moon Moon Sen. She also appeared along with her sister, Raima Sen, in Noukadubi (2011), a Bengali film.

One of the most successful movies that Sen appeared in was her Malayalam film, Anandabhadram (2005), where she plays the role of Bhama. The movie was awarded five Kerala State Film Awards and was one of the biggest successes in 2005.

Sen also featured in several music videos and songs like Jhumka Gira Re by Asha Bhosle, Jeena Hai Tere Liye (2001) by Sonu Nigam, Jab Samne Tum and Kahin Kahin Se by Jagjit Singh and Asha Bhosle, Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin by the late Lata Mangeshkar, Jagjit Singh and Asha Bhosle, and many more.

In 2006, Sen became the brand ambassador of Limca, replacing Deepika Padukone. She has been selected as the brand ambassador for several big names like Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Colgate, Reliance Industries, Dabur Vatika, and Nirma.

In 2012 Sen was awarded the Best Actress Star Guide Award for her performance in Noukadubi (2011).

She has appeared on the cover pages of several magazines and even walked the ramp for big fashion shows like Lakmé Fashion Week (2005-07) and Wills Fashion Week (2006-2007).