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By:

Shoma A. Chatterji

21 August 2024 at 4:19:40 pm

Uttam Kumar: The Legend Lives On

Four decades after his death, Bengal’s greatest star still commands a devotion that borders on the religious. Uttam Kumar was revelatory in Satyajit Ray’s Nayak (1966), one of his most iconic performances. Every year, in the month of September, when Uttam Kumar was born in Ahiritola in the northern parts of Kolkata, and also in July, when he passed away, people across West Bengal go wild with celebrations in tribute to Uttam Kumar though he passed away in 1980, more than five decades ago. One...

Uttam Kumar: The Legend Lives On

Four decades after his death, Bengal’s greatest star still commands a devotion that borders on the religious. Uttam Kumar was revelatory in Satyajit Ray’s Nayak (1966), one of his most iconic performances. Every year, in the month of September, when Uttam Kumar was born in Ahiritola in the northern parts of Kolkata, and also in July, when he passed away, people across West Bengal go wild with celebrations in tribute to Uttam Kumar though he passed away in 1980, more than five decades ago. One can therefore imagine what must have happened while celebrating his centenary this year. The shimmering ‘light’ umbrellas, the giant-sized posters of the unforgettable star Uttam Kumar not only decorated Nandan, the cultural centre of the State Government, but also every corner of the city filled with posters from films of the great star, songs from his films playing across the city, almost reminding the lay Kolkata man of the Durga Pooja. But Durga Pooja is more than a month away and here we were witness to the most memorable centenary tribute being paid to just the only actor in India, rare because no other Indian actor’s centenary has been celebrated for almost a week right across the state of West Bengal. Unpromising Beginnings Few today know that his name was Arun Kumar Chatterjee but was changed to ‘Uttam’, meaning ‘the best’ when he stepped into films. His first film Dhristidaan was released in 1948. Some say he made his debut as an ‘extra’ in Mayadore in 1947. Initially, people labelled him ‘Flop Master General’. Every single film he played hero in flopped. It took a long, hard struggle, shedding of silent tears, rising above deep frustration and a determination to succeed that took him to the peak. Many had given him up as a ‘lost case.’ Uttam Kumar had his share of sharp, acidic criticism. When he was riding the crest of success with films opposite Suchitra Sen, setting the screen on fire with their electric chemistry, many intellectuals attacked this good-looking actor with the label of ‘theatrical actor full of mannerisms.’ “He does not know the ABC of acting,” said some. But he silenced them with his sterling performance in Bosu Paribar (1952) directed by Nirmal De. This was his first hit. He became a star with Agni Pareeksha directed by Agradoot. With Suchitra Sen in Harano Sur (1957), one of the films that cemented the unforgettable ‘Uttam-Suchitra’ screen chemistry. His last film, Ogo Bodhu Sundari hit the screens in 1980. He suffered a massive stroke on the studio floors and passed away on July 24. Over three decades, he acted in around 159 Bengali films, investing his characters with a unique charm, whether he played an old faithful servant in Khokababur Pratyabartan based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore, or whether it was the role of an amnesiac industrialist opposite Suchitra Sen in Harano Sur. As he mellowed into character roles, his performance matured and his screen persona took on a new look. He continued to dominate the screen in mature roles such as the committed doctor in Agnisnaan or the strange villain in Aparichito or Chunilal in Dilip Roy’s Devdas. Total Commitment He would arrive on the sets much before time, repair to his make-up room, put on his make-up and costume and would sit in absolute silence, dwelling on the scenes to be shot that day. The director would summon him when the shot was ready and he would face the camera, living his screen character. “His commitment to acting– the sequence, the chronology of shots, the light arrangements, the make-up and costume, the character he was portraying – was total”, says Tapan Sinha who directed Uttam Kumar in Upahaar, Bicharak, Hansuli Baanker Upakatha, Jhinder Bondi and Jotugriha. This director-actor bonding cracked completely when Sinha dropped Uttam Kumar to pick theatre personality Manoj Mitra for Banchharaamer Bagan. Supriya Devi insisted that it was this shock that brought about the heart attack that finally ended his life. “He heard it from others, not from Tapan-da. He was so totally involved in the role after long discussions with Tapan-da that all he could talk about at home was this film. So, when he heard he was dropped, he could not cope,” she reminisced sadly. In Jhinder Bondi (1961), a striking reminder of the superstar’s versatility. “He would recite the Chandipaath loudly everyday during his morning Pooja. He would read the newspaper loudly to gain command over his diction. He did not have a morsel of food the day he was to shoot the nightmare scene in Nayak where he is shown slowly sucked into a quicksand-like hillock of currency notes. He later said how he really lost his balance and felt smothered under those notes,”said the late Supriya Devi, his leading lady in 33 films and his live-in partner for 20 years till his death. In his authorized autobiography Amaar Ami (1980) written by Gouranga Prasad Ghosh, the reader gets a glimpse of the image of a middle-class urban Bengali who invested tremendously in hard work, perseverance, diligence and grit. It speaks lucidly about a man’s single-minded determination to work his way up the ladder to reach the top, who never takes his success for granted, who is ever ready to learn everything his roles demand him to. Apart from dancing, horse-riding and tennis, he also learnt wrestling at an akhara near Indira cinema, unknown to many. He was a very good singer and tabla player but refused to playback for himself. Before testing the waters of Hindi films, he tried to master Hindi and Urdu too. The book also refers to his commitment to better the working conditions of junior artistes and to improve the status of the film industry in his home state. Remarkable Legacy What makes Uttam Kumar’s legacy remarkable is that it has never depended solely on nostalgia. Each generation seems to discover something different in him — the romantic hero, the sensitive middle-class Bengali, the mature character actor, the singer, the performer who understood the value of preparation and discipline. His appeal crossed the boundaries of class, age and even time. He also represented a particular moment in Bengali cinema when the star system, music, literature and theatre came together to create a distinctive popular culture. Uttam Kumar was at the centre of that world, but he was never merely its glamorous face. Behind the immaculate screen image was a deeply hardworking actor who constantly pushed himself to learn, experiment and improve. That heart-wrenching smile, those mesmerizing eyes still make hearts of women in their 50s and 60s miss a beat. “He is the universal romantic hero of all time, the best Indian cinema has produced since no other star anywhere else in the country has been able to keep his memory alive in the minds of the masses like Uttam Kumar has,” said the late Rabi Basu, a renowned film critic. Up there, Uttam Kumar, looking at that square, corrugated picture of himself archived in a postage stamp, is probably having the last laugh at critics who dubbed him ‘a theatrical actor full of mannerisms,’ or, ‘a chocolate-boy hero who does not know the ABC of acting.’ (The writer is a noted film scholar and a double-winner for the National Award for Best Writing on Cinema who has authored books on the cinema of Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and Suchitra Sen among others. Views personal.)

Why is Mamata Seeing Ghost of Bangladesh?

Writer: Romita Datta
Romita Datta
Aug 27, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Why is Mamata Seeing Ghost of Bangladesh?

Mamata is seeing a ghost of Bangladesh behind the massive outrage and waves of protest over rape and murder of the trainee doctor. And the reasons are many.

It’s been over a fortnight. Yet with each passing day the voice of protest is getting louder and stronger. From the streets of Kolkata it’s pouring into roads of hinterland. The cry for justice for a rape victim has consolidated into a wail of demands to set a lot of wrongdoings right. Here in lies the fear and trepidation. Wasn’t the issue that brought the youth of Bangladesh out on the thoroughfares a simple, innocent one of quota reform?

The chief minister of Bengal, known for understanding the pulse of people better than many, was quick to read the signages floating in the political horizon.

The most obvious reason for her to be tensed is that both the regime change in Bangladesh and the mass protest in Bengal, were student-driven to begin with. The two incidents---end of 15 year old Sheikh Hasina government and turbulence in West Bengal, over the heinous crime, falling back to back, the first on August 5th and the latter from August 9th onwards, give natural scope for comparisons. More so, because in both the cases the movement strayed beyond an affected constituency to include aggrieved people at large, cutting across socio-economic demography. If the quota reform protest started by students in Bangladesh became a mass uprising against an autocratic regime, the campaign demanding justice for the rape victim and overall safety and security of women in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal soon snowballed into a movement of no-confidence against the government. Slogans--”Mamata must resign” also got floated in social media much in line with the call for ouster of Sheikh Hasina. In fact “Resignation of Hasina” became the single point agenda into which all other fringe demands coalesced.

Incidentally, even before people started drawing parallels, that there could be a thread of commonality in the way the upheaval in Bangladesh and Bengal played out, Mamata was quick to point out that the Opposition were trying to pull off a Bangladesh by politicizing the tragic incident: “A coordinated approach has been executed by the BJP and the CPIM with support from the Centre to defame Bengal and exploit the situation....They want to make a Bangladesh here. They are taking cues from student unrest in Bangladesh and are attempting to capture similarly. I have no longing for the chair. I came here to serve people.”

Not only Mamata, her political lieutenants are consistently equating the turmoil in Bengal with the mayhem in Bangladesh. Cabinet minister for North Bengal development Udayan Guha threatened to take stern action against those, who would be trying to exploit the situation by emulating a Bangladesh like movement. “ Even after the hospital was vandalised, the police did not open fire on anyone. The police will not allow a Bangladesh type situation. We will not allow Bengal to turn into Bangladesh, Guha thundered.

Is the government’s fear unfounded?

Apart from the similarities on ground zero, as to how and where the future course of events are heading to, there are ample reasons for Bengal to mull on-- as to what led to a Bangladesh like boiling point. To begin with, it’ll be appropriate to talk of Bangladesh and the prevailing situation, that made the students’ protest become big in magnitude. The students were out on the streets because of a high reservation in public jobs. Unemployment and stagnant job market in private sector coupled with a high rate of inflation drove the educated youth to rebel against the government.

But soon the students found enormous number of sympathisers, who were equally at the receiving end. According to Bangladesh citizens, the last two terms of the Sheikh Hasina government were a mockery of democracy. Even elections would be compromised. As Hasina grew from strength to strength, she politicized institutions. The rank and file of police owed allegiance to the ruling dispensation. Extortion, harrassment and raids by police and people in power became rampant. An atmosphere of fear and repression reigned and people got restless to overthrow the government.

Politicization of institutions has been happening in Mamata government too. Allegations are quite strong that police in Bengal functions at the beck and call of political bosses. The lapses and alleged loopholes on the part of police in handling the rape and murder of the young doctor have yet again revealed a sense of confused or misplaced loyalty.

But above everything else both Hasina and Mamata governments allegedly seem to have twined in accepting corruption as a way of life. In Bangladesh jobs of primary and secondary teachers got sold at premium, Rs 10-12 lakh in the Hasina regime. Even police had to pay up for prized postings and transfers. In Bengal busting of the teacher’s recruitment scam has revealed how unsuccessful and ineligible candidates got government jobs in schools in exchange of bribes.

Similarities are multiple and inescapable. Mamata has good reasons to be apprehensive. It’s not only she, who can see and connect the dots. People, out on the streets, clamoring for justice, can see a providential pattern somewhere in the unfolding of future events in these two places-- Bangladesh and Bengal. True, they share more than 2,217 odd km of border. They share the same umbilical cord, other than language, culture, ethos, icons. Even emotions are the same. So she cannot take any risk.

(The writer is a senior jounalist based in Kolkata. Views personal)

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