Uttam Kumar

Late Journalist Randra Trivedi, in his Modern Uttam, explained the incredible bankability of i y this star. From 1947 to 1980, both in Bengali and Hindi, Uttam Kumar acted in 217 films. In 1947, he got an offer for a brief role in a Hindi film called "Mayador." The film never saw the light of day. His first release was the Bengali film "Drishtidaan" (1948), directed by Nitin Bose. In the film Uttam was credited as Arun Kumar. The film was a flop. In 1949 he made his debut as the leading man in the film "Kamona," crediting him as Uttam Chatterjee. But this too bombed. By then the Industry had labelled him a "flop master." During this time he got married to Gauri Ganguli (in 1948). Fortunately for Uttam, "Basu Paribar" (1952), co-starring Sabitri Chatterjee, was a big hit.Uttam delivered another big hit "Sharey Chuattor" in 1953. After that everything was part of making history. Though trying out in Hindi movies was quite disappointing to him, because of his Bengali accent which did not much impressed audiences all over the country. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema and known by the honorific Mahanayak. Through his career he earned commercial as well as critical success, and he remains a cultural icon.

Uttam's first release was Drishtidan (The gift of sight, 1948) directed by Nitin Bose, though he worked in an earlier unreleased film called Mayador (Embrace of Affection). Then he acted in about four to five films, all of which were flops. In those films he constantly varied his name: Arun Chatterjee, Arun Kumar, Uttam Chatterjee and finally Uttam Kumar. He was dubbed as the 'Flop Master General'. When he entered the studio, people would laugh at him and comment "Here comes the new Durgadas..." "Meet the new Chabbi Biswas..". He considered leaving the world of cinema and start working at Calcutta Ports. But his wife, Gouri Chatterjee told him that it would be better if he did not to do a job his heart was not in. He later got the contact at M.P Studios for three years. M.P studios produced the film "Basu Paribar" in which he came into prominence, but his breakthrough film was Agni Pariksha in 1954 that began the success of the all-time romantic pair of Uttam Kumar - Suchitra Sen, though they had first paired in Sharey Chuattor (1953).The film ran for 65 weeks and established Uttam in the industry.

On the background of the mass migration from the then East Pakistan to Calcutta, the Uttam-Suchitra pair gave expression to the yearnings of a new, transformed city. They played out on screen the new desires of a young audience trying to come to terms with industrial modernity and a new form of urban existence. The stylised, black-and-white Romanticism of landmark Uttam-Suchitra films of the 1950s like "Agni Pariksha", "Shapmochan",Sagarika (1956), Shilpi (1956), or Harano Sur, Indrani, Sabar Uparey, Surjyo Toron reflected a novel, youthful urban Desire to break free from the confines of the feudal joint family and set up a nucleated, private space for the couple in love. In contrast to the earlier phase of Bengali cinema mostly dominated by the dramatised style of the New Theaters' films (in the 1940s), the Uttam-Suchitra films were marked by a more naturalistic acting style, a bit dramatic-stylized, soft-focus black-and-white cinematography with chiaroscuro effects, and a more popular and modern form of music that broke away more decisively from earlier dependence on classical types. These features were put in place by a new generation of cinematographers like Dinen Gupta and Ajoy Kar, a fresh batch of Directors (Kar himself, Sudhir Mukherjee, Naresh Mitra, Sushil Majumdar, the combines of Jatrik and Agradoot) and Musicians like Nachiketa Ghosh, Rabin Chattopadhyay, Anupam Ghatak, Hemanta Mukherjee, Anil Bagchi, Sudhin Dasgupta and Salil Chowdhury, along with lyricists like Gauriprasanna Majumdar, Pranab Roy, Pulak Bandopadhyay. A number of them hailed from the left wing Indian People's Theater Association (IPTA) movement, popularly known as Gananatya Sangha.

Commercial cinema in the form of films like Uttam Kumar starrer Basu Paribar (1952) and the iconic Uttam–Suchitra pairing in Sharey Chuattor (1953), did tremendous Business. Explaining the emergence of parallel cinema at time when commercial cinema was doing extremely well with heroes like Uttam Kumar taking on a cult status, Soumitra Chatterjee, who starred in many of Satyajit Ray's films explained: "Uttam Kumar alone was not able to fulfill every part of the hero that Bengali audiences wished to see on the screen … there are different kinds of people in life … other kinds of young men, other kinds of romances … possibly that is why audiences found a parallel screen hero in myself."

Shonar Harin (1959) saw Supriya Devi (who would win great accolades for her performance in Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara the following year) play the lead opposite Uttam Kumar. As they began to act in more films together, the two got involved off-screen as well. In 1963, Uttam left his family home at Girish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipur and stayed with Supriya for the next 17 years till his death. They starred together in several other films like Uttarayan, Chiradiner, Agni Sanskar", "Suno Baranari", "Kal Tumi Aleya", "Lal Pathor", "Andha Atit", "Sudhu Ekti Bochhor", "Mon Niye", "Bilambita Loy", "Bhola Maira", "Sanyasi Raja, "Bon Palashir Padabali", Sister (1977), "Jibon Mrityue","Bagh Bandir Khela" etc.

Never quite satisfied with his undisputed matinée idol status, Uttam Kumar started experimenting with character roles early in his career. This was evidenced in films like Khokababur Pratyabartan (1960), Mayamriga (1960) or Thana Theke Aschi (1965) and Bicharak. In Marutirtha Hinglaj (1959), he played a mentally disturbed character. In Kuhak he was a murderous thief, while in Sesh Anka, he was a suave businessman who had murdered his wife and was romantically engaged to the daughter of a social elite and rich nobleman. In Aparichita (1969) he also played the role of a villain. Such departures were unusual in relation to set formats of stardom in Indian popular cinematic cultures, where deviating from established 'star images' were often considered to be risky. However, this brought Uttam Kumar early recognition as a genuine actor of substance apart from a box office superstar and stood him in good stead later, especially in his collaborations with Satyajit Ray in Nayak (1966) and Chiriyakhana. A perfectionist, Uttam Kumar performed on stage for a full year, opposite Sabitri Chatterjee in Star Theatre in the play "Shyamali" [On screen, he played opposite Kaberi Bose]to hone up his skill as an actor.

When the Indian government instituted the National Film Awards for National Film Award for Best Actor and National Film Award for Best Actress in 1967, Uttam Kumar was the first-ever recipient of the Best Actor Award for his performances in Antony Firingee and Chiriyakhana in 1967.

Appreciated by many to be most talented of Bengali heroines, Sabitri Chatterjee was ardently admired by the Mahanayak as his most powerful heroine. Together, they performed in a number of blockbusters and superhits, few of which are acclaimed as evergreen comedies. Uttam-Sabitri starrers include "Abhoyer Biye", "Hat Barelei Bandhu", "Dui Bhai", "Kuhak", "Nishi Padma" (1970), "Bhrantibilash", "Momer Alo", "Kalankita Nayak"[also starring Aparna Sen], "Dhanyee Meye", Shes anko and "Mouchak". In a radio interview, the Actress recorded her admiration to Uttam Kumar for taking up challenging roles like that of Raicharan in "Khokababur Pratyabartan", the judge in "Bicharak" and police officer in "Thana Theke Aaschhi" at a time when he was at the height of popularity as a matinee idol of Indian cinema.

"Evergreen" Award for "Anand Ashram" (1977)

He came out with an authorised biography Aamar Ami in 1979-80. He had a phenomenal fan base which continues even to this day. In 1960, he started writing an autobiography named Harano Dinguli Mor {My Bygone Days}, but could not complete it.Parts of that book was published by the magazine Nabokallol.On the day Uttam died, the original manuscript was stolen.Later a member from Times of India had found the manuscript and the national library hepled to find old editions of Nabakallol and then the incomplete book was finally published in the 37th Calcatta Book Fair. As a singer, he recorded songs for the AIR - All India Radio - and very recently, an album of Tagore songs (Rabindrasangeet) sung by him, has been brought out.

A workaholic, he was rumoured to have said that his preferred demise would be on the floor of a studio, doing what he loved best: acting. While filming Ogo Bodhu Shundori in 1980 Uttam Kumar suffered a stroke and was admitted to the Belleveue Clinic. The doctors did their best for 16 hours but he died that night on 24 July 1980 at the age of 54. As his dead body found its way across Bhowanipur and finally to the Keoratala Burning Ghat, traffic in Kolkata came to a halt as thousands flocked the streets to pay their respects and have a last glimpse of the legend.

Perhaps his most lauded appearance was in Satyajit Ray's Nayak (The Hero). It is now widely accepted that Ray wrote the script with Uttam in mind. Many people feel the film bears resemblance to Uttam Kumar's own life – the sense of anxiety and restlessness mirrored Uttam's insecurities about his phenomenal success and abiding fear that his superstardom might not last. Uttam made the role of Arindam (Mukherjee) his own and Ray later confessed that if Uttam had refused the film, he would have abandoned it. He worked with Ray the following year in Chiriyakhana (1967).

He explored new avenues of film-making by trying his hand at production, singing, composing music, screenplay writing and directing. The success of his Indian films as Producer — Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Bhrantibilash, Jotugriha (1964), Grihadah — won greatest acclaim.On producing Chhoti Si Mulaqat in 1967, which was a Hindi film starring Uttam and Vyjayanthimala, Uttam almost used up all his savings, since the film had to be shot in colour and was shot in extravagant locations.Both Uttam and Vaijantimala had huge hopes associated with the film, but the film was a flop leading to great disappointment for Uttam Kumar. It was later said that this flop was one of the main reasons for triggering the heart attack which ultimately led to his death. Later, Uttam directed much-lauded films such as Sudhu Ekti Bochhor and Bon Palashir Padaboli. He composed music for the film Kaal Tumi Aleya in which Hemanta Mukherjee and Asha Bhonsle sang to his tune.

There is a theatre (Uttam Mancha) named after him in Kolkata. A life-size statue has been erected near Tollygunj metro station which has recently been renamed after the iconic actor by the Central Railway Ministry. Besides, Shilpi Sansad, the actor's pet project of safegurading the artistes especially the poor and the old, is active still. Celebrating the 89rd birth anniversary of Uttam Kumar, the Department of Posts in 2009, released a series of new postal stamps featuring the actor on them.The Department of Posts also released a brochure on the Uttam Kumar Stamp release with a note that says "Uttam Kumar – The Legend of Indian Cinema". "The government of India" release 19TH JUNE 2015 "UTTAM" AWARD for Best acting.

Reruns of his films on television decades after his death are still eagerly watched. Uttam Kumar’s time is considered by most as the golden era of Bengali cinema.