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LADIES CORNER - MOHUN BAGANI CELEBRITIES.
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"Uttam" forever
Ei path jodi na sesh hoi, ……….’
Indeed! The path hailing the success of the hero of all times did not end. After two decades of the demise of the great actor, Uttam Kumar still remains the heartthrob of the Bengali cinema lovers.
From Barua’s Devdas to Rituparno’s Chokher Bali, Bengali cinema has come a long way in the past years. We have experienced different phases of refinement in the field of cinematography, photography, direction and last but not the least, acting. But Uttam’s popularity and craze never ever faded. Even Cinema-lovers of 21st century who mostly hang out for Hindi films, would go gaga for a black & white romantic movie of Uttam-Suchitra. Such immense is the impact of the star in millions of Bengali hearts. It is not that we love only Uttam’s acting, his screen presence, his art of delivering dialogues, we love Uttam, we love Uttam the person.
Uttam was a very cheerful and generous person. He proved to be very cooperative and caring in the sets. He loved wearing ‘Dhuti’ and ‘panjabi’ in an elegant style. Uttam was a true Bengali by heart. A possessor of a royal heart. He was a complete foodie and a football lover. He loved traditional and spicy Bengali food like dal,posto,prawn etc. Later due to this food habit he had to suffer a lot. Being a life member of Mohunbagan Club,Uttam used to watch most of the matches played by Mohunbagan.
Nevertheless, Uttam’s popularity can never match anybody else’s in the Bengali cinema history, the starting of Uttam’s film-journey was never a bed of roses. Born in1926 at Ahiritola of North Calcutta, he was named Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay. His maternal grandmother gave his screen-name. Love for acting was in blood. His family had their own theatre group called Suhrid Samaj, which staged many amateur shows. Before films, Uttam took up the job of a clerk in Port Commissioner’s office. Still he could not make ends meet. So he had to take up part-time as a music teacher in a music school. He learnt music from Sri Nidan Bandopadhyay. He got break in cinema in 1947 in the film ‘Mayador’, which never released. His first release was ‘Drishtidaan’ in 1948.It was a flop. In ‘Kamana’ Uttam debuted as the lead hero as Uttam Kumar. There was a string of unsuccessful films until ‘Basu Parivar’ hit the cinema halls in 1952.1952 was a turning point of Uttam’s life. After getting married to Gauri Ganguli in 1948,and blessed with a son, Gautam, Uttam seriously started thinking of ending his film career. But destiny had something incredible to offer. After ‘Basu Parivar’s success, there was no looking back for the ‘Mahanayak’, as cherished by his fans.
The dream pair of Uttam-Suchitra first overwhelmed the viewers with the film ‘Sare Chuattor’. After that many films experienced the charisma of Uttam-Suchitra, like ‘Agniporikkha’,’Shapmochan’,’Harano Sur’,’Chawa-pawa’Shaptopadi’,’Bipasha” etc. The romantic pair of Uttam-Suchitra and the melodious music of those films won tremendous acclamation from the viewers. Uttam became indispensable to the filmmakers. A number of films paired with Shavitri,Supriya,Madhavi,Aparna also achieved success. Playing the role of a film star in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Nayak’ was remarkable. This film earned acclamation in the film festival of Berlin. From Saptapodi’s Krishnendu to Antony Firingi’s Antony,or from Chiriakhana’s Byomkesh to Ogo badhu Shundari’s Phonetics Professor Gagan Sen, Uttam’s versatility knew no bounds. Uttam even acted in Star theatre in a play named ‘Shamoli’. He acted in few Hindi movies like ‘Chhoti Si Mulakat’ and ‘Duriya’. He also directed some movies.
But before he could exploit his directing abilities further, or experiment his acting in other dimensions, he left us. Uttam Kumar,the legend of Bengali cinema ,left for the last journey on 24th July,1980 leaving behind his memorable films in the hearts of millions of his fans and the memory will remain there for ever and ever because Uttam was not the star of yesteryears, he is the star of all times. Chirodiner Uttam.
Arunima Chattopadhyay- August 2004
(Co-Editor www.mohunbaganclub.com)
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