Uttam Kumar

Uttam Kumar , Uttam Kumar Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee, (1927-09-03)3 September 1927, Ahiritola, Calcutta, Bengal, British India Died 24 July 1980(1980-07-24) (aged 53), Tollygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal, India Occupation Actor, Producer, Director, Music Director, Playback Singer Years active 1948-1980 Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Spouse(s) Gauri Chatterjee Children Gautam Chatterjee Signature Uttam Kumar (3 September 1926 - 24 July 1980) is an Indian film actor in Bengali Cinema. Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak. He remains as much of a cultural icon. As actor, director, producer, singer and music director, his contribution earned him critical adulation. Considered as one of the most popular film stars in the history of cinema, Kumar managed to have a following, that mainly concentrated in the regions of Bengal and Bangladesh. In his lifetime, he was a recipient of many awards, including National Film Award for Best Actor. Even after his death, his tradition went on as long as the next century. He is often regarded as, by many critics, the 'Actor' who changed the notion of films. In his honor, a Metro Station was built In Kolkata Early life and family edit: Uttam Kumar was born in Kolkata in the home of his maternal uncle at Ahiritola, while his ancestral house is on Girish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipore, Kolkata. After his schooling in South Suburban School (Main), he went for higher studies in Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration, a college affiliated to the University of Calcutta. He could not, however, complete his studies and started working at the Kolkata Port trust, then known as Calcutta Port Trust, as a clerk. During this period, he acted in amateur theatre groups. His prodigious joint family had its own theatre group, the Suhrid Samaj, which staged many amateur shows. Uttam Kumar was the eldest of three sons (Arun, Barun and Tarun) of Satkari Chatterjee and Chapala Debi. The youngest, whose screen name was Tarun Kumar, acted in several Bengali films and grew to become an actor of considerable repute, in screen and on stage. There are several films in which Uttam Kumar and Tarun Kumar starred together like Saptapadi, Sonar Harin, Maya Mriga, Sesh Anka, Deya Neya, Jeeban-Mrityu, Dhanyi Meye,Mon Niye, Sanyasi Raja, and Agniswar. Uttam Kumar married Gauri Debi Chatterjeenee Ganguly. Their only son, Gautam, a businessman, died of cancer at the age of 53. His grandson, Gaurav is a Tollywood actor. Pulak Bandyopadhyay, a famous lyricist, was his uncle. Uttam kumar is generally perceived in Bengal as Mahanayak meaning the great actor. Career edit: Debut and breakthrough edit: Uttam's first release was Drishtidan (The gift of sight) directed by Nitin Bose, though he worked in an earlier unreleased film called Mayador (Embrace of affection). He came into prominence in the film Basu Paribar and his breakthrough film was Agni Pariksha that began the roaring success of the all-time romantic pair of Uttam Kumar - Suchitra Sen; though they had first starred in Sharey Chuattor (74 and a half anna). Altogether, this pair starred in about 30 films between 1954 and 1974-75. Coming in the wake of the Indian Partition of 1947, and unprecedented mass migration from the then East Pakistan to Kolkata (then known as Calcutta), the Uttam-Suchitra pair gave expression to the yearnings of a new, transformed city. They played out on screen the new desires of a young audience trying to come to terms with industrial modernity and a new form of urban existence. The stylized, black-and-white romanticism of landmark Uttam-Suchitra films of the 1950s like "Agni Pariksha", "Shapmochan",Sagarika (1956), Shilpi (1956), or Harano Sur, Indrani, Sabar Uparey, Surjyo Toron reflected a novel, youthful urban desire to break free from the confines of the feudal joint family and set up a nucleated, private space for the couple in love. In contrast to the earlier phase of Bengali cinema mostly dominated by the dramatised style of the New Theaters' films (in the 1940s), the Uttam-Suchitra films were marked by a more naturalistic acting style, a bit dramatic-stylized, soft-focus black-and-white cinematography with chiaroscuro effects, and a more popular and modern form of music that broke away more decisively from earlier dependence on classical types . These features were put in place by a new generation of cinematographers like Dinen Gupta and Ajoy Kar, a fresh batch of directors (Kar himself,Sudhir Mukherjee, Naresh Mitra, Sushil Majumdar, the combines of Jatrik and Agradoot) and musicians like Nachiketa Ghosh, Rabin Chattopadhyay, Anupam Ghatak, Hemanta Mukherjee Anil Bagchi, Sudhin Dasgupta and Salil Chowdhury, along with lyricists like Gauriprasanna Majumdar, Pranab Roy, Pulak Bandopadhyay. A number of them hailed from the left wing Indian People's Theater Association (IPTA) movement, popularly known as Gananatya Sangha. Uttam Kumar was especially adored for his effortless naturalism in front of the camera and a distinctively urbane charisma that broke free from the prototypical Bengali screen hero of the past. He went on to form successful screen pairs with many leading ladies like Suchitra Sen, Supriya Choudhuri, Sabitri Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Sharmila Tagore, Anjana Bhaumick, Aparna Sen and Sumitra Mukherjee, apart from Sandhyarani in the 50s, Arundhati Debi and Mala Sinha in the 60s and Kaberi Bose and Tanuja in the 60s and 70s. However, his rise to stardom and seat of adulation was rather arduous. he had to struggle a lot to find place on the silver screen. This hard fact finds depiction in his signature film "Nayak" by Satyajit Ray in which the master-director scripts the rise of a young actor with an ordinary background to a star sought after by one and all. In fact, this film may be considered as a tribute to Uttam Kumar. Often hailed as the one-man industry, he dominated Bengali cinema for three decades until his death. This near-total reign was somewhat slightly disturbed during the politically turbulent era of the late sixties up to the Emergency, when Uttam Kumar's regular, politically passive or relatively conservative romantic film persona sometimes found it difficult to fit into the narratives of unrest that came to the fore. Never quite satisfied with his undisputed matinée idol status, Uttam Kumar started experimenting with character roles early in his career, as evidenced by films like Khokababur Pratyabartan, (1960), Mayamriga, (1960) or Thana Theke Aschi (1965) and Bicharak. In Marutirtha Hinglaj (1959), he essayed a mentally disturbed character. In Kuhak he was a murderous thief, while in Sesh Anka, he was a suave businessman who had murdered his wife and was romantically engaged to the daughter of a social elite and rich nobleman. In Aparichita (1969) he also played the role of a villain. Such departures were unusual in relation to set formats of stardom in Indian popular cinematic cultures, where deviating from established 'star images' were often considered to be risky. However, this brought Uttam Kumar early recognition as a genuine actor of substance apart from a box office superstar and stood him in good stead later, especially in his collaborations with Satyajit Ray in Nayak (1966) and Chiriyakhana. A perfectionist, Uttam Kumar performed on stage for a full year, opposite Sabitri Chatterjee in Star Theatre in the play "Shyamali" On screen, he played opposite Kaberi Boseto hone up his skill as an actor. Stardom and legacy edit: Apart from Bengali, Uttam Kumar also acted in some Hindi films such as Chhoti Si Mulaqat (along with Vyjayanthimala), Amanush, Anand Ashram, Dooriyaan (with Sharmila Tagore), and Kitaab with Vidya Sinha. But his towering contribution was to Bengali cinema and the Bengali film industry on the whole. Perhaps his most lauded appearances was in Satyajit Ray's Nayak (The Hero). It is now widely accepted that Ray wrote the script with Uttam in mind. Many people feel the film bears resemblance to Uttam Kumar's own life -- the sense of anxiety and restlessness mirrored Uttam's insecurities about his phenomenal success and abiding fear that his superstardom might not last. Uttam made the role of Arindam (Mukherjee) his own and Ray later confessed that if Uttam had refused the film, he would have abandoned it. He worked with Ray the following year in Chiriyakhana (1967). When the Indian government instituted the National Film Awards for National Film Award for Best Actor and National Film Award for Best Actress in 1967, Uttam Kumar was the first-ever recipient of the Best Actor Award for his performances in Anthony Firangee and Chiriyakhana in 1967. He explored new avenues of film-making by trying his hand at production, singing, composing music, screenplay writing and directing. The success of his Bengali films as producer -- Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Bhrantibilash, Jotugriha (1964), Grihadah -- won great acclaim.On producing Choti Si Mulaqat,which was a hindi film starring Uttam and Vaijantimala,Uttam almost extinguished up all his saving,since the film had to be shoot in colour and was shoot in extravagant locations.Both Uttam and Vaijantimala has huge hopes associated with the film,but the film flopped and Uttam had to face huge losses and had to work continuosly for 2 years to cover up the losses.Uttam also had his first heart attack in that period and his career as a producer was at an end. Later, Uttam directed much-lauded films such as Sudhu Ekti Bochhor and Bon Palashir Padaboli. He composed music for the film Kaal Tumi Aleya in which Hemanta Mukherjee and Asha Bhonsle sang to his tune. He came out with an authorised biography Amaar Ami in 1979-80. He had a phenomenal fan base which continues even to this day. In 1960, he started writing an autobiography named Harano Dinguli Mor{My Bygone Days}, but could not complete it.Parts of that book was published by the magazine Nabokallol.On the day Uttam died,the original manuscript was stolen.Later a member from Times Of India had found the manuscript and the national library hepled to find old editions of Nabakallol and then the incomplete book was finally published in the 37th Calcatta Book Fair. As a singer, he recorded songs for the AIR - All India Radio - and very recently, an album of Tagore songs (Rabindrasangeet) sung by him,has been brought out. Nag, Kushali (July 20, 2008), "Living with Uttam Kumar", The Telegraph, retrieved August 15, 2010 Reruns of his films on television decades after his death are still eagerly watched. Uttam Kumar's time is considered by most as the golden era of Bengali cinema. Filmography edit: Main article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttam_Kumar_filmography Late journalist Rintu Mukherjee, in his Khanojonma Uttam, explained the incredible bankability of this star. From 1947 to 1980, both in Bengali and Hindi, Uttam Kumar acted in 202 films. Among them 39 were blockbusters, 57 were superhits, 57 made profits above the average and the rest flopped. Awards edit: National Film Awards 1961: Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Bengali - Saptapadi, 1963 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali:Uttar Falguni (as producer) , Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards B.F.J.A Best Actor Award for Hrod (1955), Recognition from the Government of India for Harano Sur (1957), B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Saptapadi (1961). Uttam Kumar received the award from the legendary film-maker Debaki Bose., B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Nayak (1966). Attended the Berlin Film Festival as a distinguished guest., The very first recipient of the National Film Awards in the Best Actor category for both Chiriyakhana and Antony Firingee (1967)., B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Grihadha (1967)., B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Ekhane Pinjar (1971)., Best Actor award from 'Prosad' magazine for Stri (1973). He received the award from Kanan Devi., B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Amanush (1974)., Best Actor Filmfare Award Nomination for Amanush (1975)., He received the Best Actor award for the same film from the Government of West Bengal on January 26, 1975. The price was worth 5000 rupees., B.F.J.A Best Actor award for Bahnisikha (1976)., Other Awards Best Actor award both from the Prosad magazine and Sanonskritik Sanbadik Sanostha for Anand Ashram (1977)., Uttam-Suchitra edit: The on-screen chemistry between Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen has always been much adored and admired.They looked like really beautiful couples. Some of Uttam's famous films co-starring Suchitra Sen include "Share Chuattor", "Agni Pariksha", "Shilpi", Saptapadi (Seven Steps),Pathe Holo Deri (Delay on the road), Harano Sur (Lost Music), Chaowa Paowa (Wish and Achievement), Bipasha, Jiban Trishna (Thirst for Life), Sagarika, Trijama, Indrani, Sabar Upare, Surjyo Toron, Rajlakshmi O Sreekanto, "Ekti Raat", "Grihadaha", Kamallata, Har Mana Har, Alo Amar Alo. Uttam-Supriya edit: Shonar Harin (1959) saw Supriya Devi (who would win great accolades for her performance in Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara the following year) play the lead opposite Uttam Kumar. As they began to act in more films together, the two got involved off-screen as well. In 1963, Uttam left his family home in Girish Park and stayed with Supriya for the next 17 years till his death. They starred together in several other films like Uttarayan, Chirodiner, Agni Sanskar", "Suno Baranari", "Kal Tumi Aleya", "Lal Pathor", "Andha Ateet", "Sudhu Ekti Bochhor", "Mon Niye", "Bilambita Loy", "Bhola Maira", "Sanyasi Raja, "Bon Palashir Padabali" etc. Uttam - Sabitri edit: Appreeciated by many to be most talented of Bengali heroines, Sabitri Chatterjee was ardently admired by the Mahanayak as his most powerful heroine. Together, they performed in a number of blockbusters and superhits, few of which are acclaimed as evergreen comedies. Uttam-Sabitri starrers include "Abhoyer Biye", "Hat Barelei Bandhu", "Dui Bhai", "Kuhak", "Nishi Padma" (1970), "Bhrantibilash", "Momer Alo", "Kalankita Nayak"also starring Aparna Sen, "Dhanyee Meye" and "Mouchak". In a radio interview, the actress recorded her admiration to Uttam Kumar for taking up challenging roles like that of Raicharan in "Khokababur Pratyabartan", the judge in "Bicharak" and police officer in "Thana Theke Aaschhi" at a time when he was at the height of popularity as a matinee idol. Death edit: A workaholic, he was rumored to have said that his preferred demise would be on the floor of a studio, doing what he loved best: acting. While filming Ogo Bodhu Shundori in 1980, he suffered a heart attack. Uttam Kumar was admitted to the Belleveue Clinic. The doctors did their best for 16 hours but he died that night on July 24, 1980 at the age of 53. As his hearse wound its way across Bhowanipur and finally to the Keoratala Burning Ghat, traffic in Kolkata came to a halt as thousands flocked the streets to pay their respects and have a last glimpse of the legend. Quotes edit: "I prefer following my own ways of acting, like the ways we talk, get angry,that kind of natural spontaneous acting. More of portraying a character.", "Sometimes I got scared. So much of accolade... Would they last for long? And that is why I was not ready to get carried away in the waves of admiration. I desire for more work.", "I never fear work. Rather I derive pleasure out of work.", "Films, Shilpi Sansad, then there was the world of my own, my privacy: I was confused. As if my every moment has been sold...", "Whenever I set to work, one after the other, death news hit me. Again I eased myself by realizing that death is the only truth."., Tributes and appreciations edit: There is a theatre (Uttam Mancha) named after him in Kolkata. A life-size statue has been erected near Tollygunj metro station which has recently been renamed after the iconic actor by the Central Railway Ministry. Besides, Shilpi Sansad, the actor's pet project of safegurading the artistes especially the poor and the old, is active still. Celebrating the 83rd birth anniversary of Uttam Kumar, the Department of Posts in 2009, released a series of new postal stamps featuring the actor on them.The Department of Posts also released a brochure on the Uttam Kumar Stamp release with a note that says 'Uttam Kumar - The Legend of Indian Cinema'. Distinguished names paying homage to Uttam edit: Satyajit Ray, "It is the demise of a leading light of the Bengali film industry...There isn't - there won't be another hero like him." Tapan Sinha, "I personally felt that the acting of Uttam Kumar could be compared to the best actor of any country. His great attribute is his diligence...Many are born with talent, but the talent gets eclipsed due to the lack of diligence. Uttam Kumar has both of them. Perhaps, that is the reason why he still sparkles." Suchitra Sen, "Uttam is my friend. In a word, he is a great,great artist. But still sometimes i feel as if he is not properly exploited." Vyjayanthimala, "Uttam Kumar was the most gifted actor I ever worked with. His first Hindi film, Chhoti Si Mulaqat, was opposite me in 1967...Uttam Kumar was thoroughly professional, cooperative and lip-synced perfectly, especially on "Aye Chand" and "Tujhe Dekha". He lip-synched songs rendered by Hemant Kumar, Manna Dey and Mohammed Rafi as if he was singing them. I was criticised for Chhoti Si Mulaqat but Uttam Kumar never criticised me" Shakti Samanta, "Uttam was a great human being...it can easily be underscored -- actor of his class is a rare kind" Madhabi Mukherjee, "...slowly Uttam Kumar got popular. And a fairy tale was born. I was never bothered to know the individual self of the romantic hero of this fairy tale. I would never want to. What if the dream gets shattered! Let the beautiful spell be alive! Long live Uttam Kumar -- The evergreen romantic hero." Kanan Devi, "It feels good to see all praising one. Uttam is one such person...He never had any pose or pretension...God gave him everything but a friend." Samaresh Basu, "Uttam Kumar, the numero uno hero of Bengal, the most loving." Bimal Mitra, "Sri Uttam Kumar is not merely the actor, I regard him as the creator of character. May be as the creator of character, he has achieved such stupendous popularity." Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay, "He is the hero and life of many of my fictions." Ashapoorna Devi, "Uttam! An extraordinary artist! The artistic self of Uttam Kumar never dies down! Oh God give him Uttam health, Uttam strength, Uttam longevity" (in Sanskrit and in Bengali, 'Uttam' means 'Good') Mithun Chakraborty, "Uttam Kumar is my guru. From my childhood, I am a diehard Uttam fan" Soumitra Chatterjee, "Many think that I have always been a sharp critic of Uttam Kumar's acting. This is not true. I have rarely seen actor of his stature. I have been fan of his acting, his admirer." Rajesh Khanna, "I have seen so many dhuti, kurta-clad Bengalis both on screen and in reality. But Uttam Kumar as the Bengali babu is unique. What I believe is that there is no one who can ever represent the Bengali community like Uttamda did." Shatrughan Sinha, "Usually, what we find is that the good-looking guys lack substance, or the reverse. But Uttam Kumar had the both...I have always respected that man...when I was at Pune Film Institute, we used to argue on Dilip Kumar-Uttam Kumar-Raj Kapoor." Shashi Kapoor, "My first real meet with Uttam Kumar was in Calcutta and the occasion was the release of Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai. Hemen Ganguly happened to be the distributor of that film. He used to be the 'common friend' of elder brother (Raj Kapoor) and Uttam Kumar. It was my pleasure to see the two greats together. I was awestruck by the royal gaits of the both...I like Uttam Kumar like any common Bengali." Hindustan Standard (on Uttam Kumar's directorial debut), "In Uttam Kumar, we have found a director who shows his brilliance on diverse levels." Respects edit: The Tollygunge metro station of Kolkata Metro was renamed as "Mahanayak Uttam Kumar" and decorated the station by movie pictures of Uttam Kumar by Indian Railways. Kolkata Film Festival 2011 has a special screening of the Mahanayak's "Nayak" and a documentary on him.

Source: Wikipedia

Text from this biography licensed under creative commons license