The undisputed king of Bengali moviedom lives on 41 years after his death
By
My Kolkata Web Desk |
Published 03.09.21, 04:41 PM
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Say the name Uttam Kumar, and Bengali women of a certain vintage go weak in the knees. The undisputed megastar of Bengali cinema would have been 95 years old today, September 3, 2021. Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee, he passed away on July 24, 1980, but his oeuvre continues to wow newer generations of fans.
Collage by Tiyasa Das
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With Suchitra Sen — the Greta Garbo of Bengali cinema — Uttam Kumar struck an on-screen chemistry that remains hard to beat.
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Uttam Kumar's performances in films like Saptapadi (1961), Antony Firingee (1967, in photograph above), Harano Sur (1957), Deya Neya (1963) remain etched in minds of generations of cine lovers.
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In his brief Bollywood foray, Uttam Kumar delivered memorable performances with leading Bollywood ladies such as Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini and Vyjayanthimala Bali. And the maestro Satyajit Ray chose Uttam for Nayak (1966, in photograph above), a searing look at showbiz and stardom.
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After the 1978 Bengal floods, Uttam Kumar captained members of the Tollywood film fraternity for a charity cricket match at the Eden Gardens against Bollywood actors led by Dilip Kumar in 1979. In 2015, the government of India introduced the Uttam Award for Best Acting. Kolkata, of course, boasts a Metro station and a theatre named after him.
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Forty-one years after he passed away, Uttam Kumar's grandson, Gourab Chatterjee (seen here in a photograph sourced by T2 in the year 2005), is all set to play the Mahanayak in director Srijit Mukherji’s upcoming Oti Uttam.
