Uday Shankar Paul spends a lot of time studying peopleand situations around him. Picture by Gopal Senapati

Atmaram Paswan, the Bihari rickshaw-puller in Anik Dutta’s Bhooter Bhabishyat, released in 2012, made audiences roll in laughter with his onscreen antics. Most who watched the film were sure that the actor must be from Bihar, with his inches thick accent. But in reality, the frail man was Uday Shankar Paul from Salkia, who has spent all his life doing theatre and struggling to establish himself as an actor in Tollywood. In the past three years, Uday Shankar has been cast in a number of Bengali films, in strong supporting roles.

He was the old gardener at the palace, who provided vital information to Feluda in Sandip Ray’s Royal Bengal Rahashya (2011). His short role in Ascharjya Pradeep (2013) was dramatic towards the end of the film. He also played the role of Golap, in Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Kangal Malshat (2013). Uday Shankar’s film career has been intermittent with long breaks in between each film, yet he has made a name for himself as a good supporting artiste by most directors who have cast him.

Being a stage actor, Uday Shankar feels that he has a versatility that many others lack. “Being a supporting actor does not mean that the role is unimportant. I have seen directors, who stress on the performance of supporting actors as well as the main cast. I may be playing a servant in a film but I have to understand the characteristics of the servant before playing the role,” said Uday Shankar.

An actor from the core, Uday Shankar puts in his 100 per cent in every role he plays. “When I got the role of Atmaram in Bhooter Bhabi-shyat, Anik Dutta asked me if I can play a Bihari, with the accent and habits of rickshaw-pullers. I agreed instantly because I had some idea about the life of rickshaw-pullers,” said Uday Shankar. He would spend days watching them, how they would work, rest, talk among themselves and even how they would crush tobacco in their palms. “I befriended a few of them to see how they live,” said the actor.

Uday Shankar’s first stage performance was at the age of nine when he acted in Rabindranath Tagore’s Jibitamrita. “My mother was interested in theatre and would sometimes take me to watch plays to Calcutta. I remember watching Bahurupee’s Raktakarabi at New Empire and was frightened by the sound of the door cracking in one of the scenes,” said Paul. He was a member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and was often selected to act in plays for them. Even today Uday Shankar remembers how he was rejected before his first stage performance for a jatra, Rahumukta, for which he had rehearsed for days. “I had become too nervous and I was rejected,” he said. The rejection pushed him to become a professional actor.

In college, Uday Shankar and his friends formed Rangarakhi Shilpigosthi and performed Utpal Dutta’s play, Neelkantha and Salil Majumdar’s Bhikharimondal, both hit productions of the group. “We went to perform all across the state and every one appreciated our work,” said Uday Shankar. However the group disintegrated, but Uday Shankar stuck to the stage. He joined Nilkantha Sengupta’s group Theatre Commune where he worked from 1978 to 1992. “I did plays like Julius Caesar er Sesh Saat Din, Dansagar which ran for 200 shows and also Jibika, where I played the main character.”

A job was out of question for Uday Shankar, who was totally smitten by the stage. “I realised that I was not cut out for nine to five jobs. Although I did try to work, I could not continue for too long,” he said.

From theatre, Uday Shankar got an opportunity to work in films. He did Moloy Bhattacharya’s Kahini (1992), Saibal Mitra’s Sangsay (2008) and a number of telefilms in between that were aired on Tara Muzik. He has also worked in serials like Football and Sapath on Zee Bangla.

In the last three years, Uday Shankar has been able to consistently work in a number of films. Some of his films awaiting release are Rangan Chakraborty’s Baridar Bangal, Kolkatar King Company and Daker Saaj. “Just like I got a good response for my role in Bhooter Bhabishyat, I am hoping people will like me in Daker Saaj too because I am playing a strong character there,” signed off the actor.

More about uday shankar

• DoB: August 16, 1948
• Born in: Howrah
• Family: Brothers and sisters
• Education: BSc (discontinued)
• Loves: Writing a bit of poetry, meeting new people
• Hates: Arrogance