Biswas won the 1996 National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the film. She won the 2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the 2006 Best Actress Genie Award for her role as Shakuntala in Deepa Mehta's Water (2005).

Biswas was born in Nalbari, Assam, to Jagdish and Meera Biswas. Her mother, an early influence, was a history teacher and a pioneering figure for female theatre artistes in Assam; and she came into contact with artists like Bhupen Hazarika, Phani Sarma and Bishnuprasad Rabha early in life.

She studied Political Science at Nalbari College, and later joined the National School of Drama, New Delhi. After graduating from NSD in 1984, she joined the NSD Repertory Company.

Biswas debuted after Shekhar Kapur watched her perform in Khubsurat Bahu, a play produced by NSD Repertory Company, and offered her a role in Bandit Queen. Although she had earlier acted in Assamese cinema this was her first big break into Hindi cinema, and she arrived with a bang.

Rooted firmly in theatre, she refuses to be typecast, and has worked in a variety of films and character roles. She has also worked in a number of Marathi, Malayalam, and Tamil films. Some of her Marathi films are Bindhast, Dhyaas Parwa, Lalbaug-Parel.

2001 - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Nargis Dutt (1968) · Sharada (1969) · Madhabi Mukherjee (1970) ·

Rehana Sultan (1971) · Waheeda Rehman (1972) · Sharada (1973) · Nandini Bhaktavatsala (1974) · Shabana Azmi (1975) · Sharmila Tagore (1976) · Lakshmi (1977) · Smita Patil (1978) · Sharada (1979) Shobha (1980) ·

Smita Patil (1981) · Rekha (1982) · Shabana Azmi (1983) · Shabana Azmi (1984) · Shabana Azmi (1985) · Suhasini Mani Ratnam (1986) · Monisha Unni (1987) · Archana (1988) · Archana (1989) · Sreelekha Mukherji (1990) ·

Vijayashanti (1991) · Moloya Goswami (1992) · Dimple Kapadia (1993) · Sobhana (1994) · Debashree Roy (1995) · Seema Biswas (1996) · Tabu (1997) · Indrani Haldar / Rituparna Sengupta (1998) · Shabana Azmi (1999) · Kirron Kher (2000) ·