When the lifeless spoke
In this section of the quiz, the questions were on props that played an important part of the scene featuring Soumitra Chatterjee.
Aparna in Apur Sansar, played by Sharmila Tagore. File photo
Few films have used a prop better than this to show how much the wife cared for the husband, played in this movie by Soumitra. Name the character in the movie who wrote this for her husband.
Aparna in Apur Sansar, played by Sharmila Tagore.
The master of the craft introduced the audience and the character played by Soumitra to the world of a boy through these props. Name the character whose world was around the Tarzans, Phantoms and philately.
Rukminikumar a.k.a Ruku in the movie Joy Baba Felunath.
Exchange of a simple garland changed the world of the man and the teenaged girl forever. What was the screen name of the girl in this movie?
Lolita in Parineeta, played by Moushumi Chatterjee
Name the character for whom this goal was set by the character played by Soumitra.
Koni, the eponymous character of the movie
This film had virtually nothing original about it except the superlative performance from Soumitra Chatterjee. But these props formed the core of the thrilling premise of the film. What was the name of the artiste played by Soumitra?
Goutam Sadhu
Pictorial trivia
1. This was a special occasion in his life graced by John F Kennedy, the then American President. What was the occasion?
US President John F. Kennedy arrives at the Dupont Theater in Washington, D.C. for a screening of the film Apur Sansar, 16 February 1961.
2. This was the documentary where Soumitra played Lord Rama in a witty take on the conflict between Rama and Ravana. Who is the author of this satire and what is the name?
This is a scene from the documentary titled Sukumar Ray. Here Soumitra plays the role of Lord Rama in an enactment of Lakshmaner Shaktishel, written by Sukumar Ray.
3. May be his “fair and lovely” co-actor needed the umbrella more than him during the shooting of this international project. Who is this co-actor?
Hugh Grunt during the shooting of the movie La Nuit Bengali, based on the semi-autobiographical film based upon the Mircea Eliade 1933 Romanian novel, Bengal Nights.
4. What was the occasion of this speech from Soumitra Chatterjee?
Speech after receiving the Legion of Honour from French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler in 2018.
5. When Soumitra was in City College, he played the titular role in a play written by one of the most prominent authors of that time. He was also a professor in the same college. The play was based on the life and times of a Renaissance man. The author was so impressed with his performance that he said, ‘One day, you would become a great actor and I would write your biography.’ Who was this author and what was the play? (The illustration is a clue to the author’s name)
Narayan Gangopadhyay, the creator of the famous character Tenida.
Posers on posters
Ganashatru By Satyajit Ray. It is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play An Enemy of the People
Borunbabur Bondhu by Aneek Dutta, based on a Bengali story Chhad written by Ramapada Chowdhury
Stree by Salil Dutta based on a novel of the same name by Bimal Mitra
Kapurush By Satyajit Ray based on Janaiko Kapuruser Kahiniby Premendra Mitra
Akash Kusum By Mrinal Sen written by Ashish Burman and Mrinal Sen
Luck by choice
The world of cinema is full of stories where actors lost roles to luckier ones or rejecting roles that went on to create history. The angry young man is born when Dev Anand rejects Zanjeer. Amjad Khan becomes a household name when Danny says he is busy shooting Dharmatma in Afghanistan. In this section we asked about some such incidents involving Soumitra Chatterjee.
I Soumitra Chatterjee was rejected in screen-test for this movie. The movie became iconic and the lead actor was stereotyped. Thankfully, Apur Sansar was in the near horizon for him. Identify the movie.
Nilachaley Mahaprabhu directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay. Asim Kumar became a household name playing Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the movie.
II Soumitra Chatterjee rejected a request from a very good friend of his to appear in this film as he believed the role did not have much scope. He was right. Name the movie and the actor who, eventually, played that role.
Kalyug, produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal. Soumitra was offered the role of Dharam Raj, later played by Raj Babbar. The movie was a modern-day adaption of the epic Mahabharat.
III Soumitra Chatterjee rejected this role and whoever replaced him created history for Indian cinema in the years that defined the 70s. Which movie and role did he reject?
Hrishikesh Mukherjee offered the role of Dr Bhaskar Banerjee a.k.a. Babu Moshai in the movie Anand to actors including Soumitra, Mehmood and a few others . It was later played by Amitabh Bachchan. The rest is history.
IV Soumitra Chatterjee rejected this movie on the same pretext that the role did not have much scope against the lead role. He was right, once again. Which movie is this?
Soumitra turned down an offer from Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury for Pink. “I was offered a judge’s role but once again it didn’t have enough scope for acting,” he said later.The role of the judge was eventually played by Dhritiman Chatterjee.
V Another Bengali actor rejected this role before the legendary film director was invited to direct the movie. The moment the director got involved, Soumitra became his first choice for the role. What was the role and who rejected it?
Bengali film producer Bijoy Chattopadhyay decided to commission a film based on Tarashankar Bandopadhyay’s novel, Abhijan. He approached Uttam Kumar and offered him the role. Uttam Kumar refused to shed his glamorous persona and enact the role of the rough and tough taxi driver.