Is Uttam Kumar still relevant to Gen Z and today’s 30-40 age group? At Kolkata Literary Meet 2026, the answer was a resounding ‘yes’, though for reasons that go far beyond romance and stardom.
At the session, ‘Uttam Shotoborsho’, filmmaker Srijit Mukherji described Kumar as someone who has “long transcended the idea of a matinee idol”. “He is a cultural icon now. He represents Bengali culture, society, sensibility and pride. He is like the Howrah Bridge, like rosogolla, like a tram, like Sourav Ganguly’s bat. Much more than the greatest hero Bengali cinema has seen,” Srijit said.
Srijit Mukherji
Actor Moon Moon Sen offered a rare, intimate glimpse into Uttam Kumar’s relationship with her mother, Suchitra Sen.
“They were in perfect harmony and sync, like the inside of a watch,” she recalled. “Once I asked my mother if she ever thought of marrying him. She just laughed and dismissed it.”
The packed audience, including students, cinephiles and longtime admirers, responded with nods and laughter, especially when Sen spoke of remembering Uttam Kumar’s wives more vividly than the actor himself.
“My mother knew all about his wives. They came to our house more often than Uttam babu did. One day, Supriya Devi, and the other day, Gouri Devi. They were all dressed up. I remember more of them than I do of him.”
Sen added that they were “very close friends” at a time when society struggled to accept friendship between a man and a woman.
Moon Moon Sen
Film historian Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay traced Uttam Kumar’s rise to history itself. “For the first time in Bengali cinema, we discovered a commoner,” he said, linking Uttam’s breakthrough films with the early years of Indian democracy.
The conversation also turned serious when Srijit spoke about the poor archiving of Uttam Kumar’s films.
“Archiving is abysmal,” he said, revealing he had to rely on AI to recreate Uttam’s voice for his movie Oti Uttam.
“Oti Uttam is my tribute to him, and an effort to restore what we are losing.”
What emerged clearly from the discussion was that for younger viewers discovering Uttam Kumar through late-night television reruns or fragmented digital clips, the attraction may no longer be about romance alone.
Held at the Alipore Jail Museum, the session brought together nostalgia, critique and urgency, reaffirming that Uttam Kumar remains not just a star, but a shared cultural memory.
