Uttam Kumar
There was a time when a young actor from Kolkata was struggling to make his mark in the cinema world. Despite the perfect look and excellent acting skills, some of his early films were badly flopped, due to which he was called a ‘flop master general’ and many people also said that they do not have the ability to achieve stardom. But, later he proved by giving back-to-back hit films that he is no less than anyone. Today these actors may not be among us. But, even today people have not forgotten them. Prior to Amitabh Bachchan, he was called ‘Mahanayak’. He is known for his contribution to the history of Indian cinema.
Who was this ‘great actor’ actor?
We are talking about the late Uttam Kumar, the legendary stars of Bengali cinema, who got the title of great one. Born as Arun Kumar Chatterjee, Uttam Kumar started his film journey in the early 1940s. For the first seven-eight years, none of his films could show special amazing. However, Uttam Kumar did not give up. He focused on refining his art and correcting his mistakes. The turning point in his career was released when the 1952 films ‘Basu Parivar’ and then ‘Agni Examination’ (1954) were released, which proved to be a big hit and which changed his professional life.
Amitabh Bachchan was also Uttam Kumar’s fan
A video of Bengali TV channel Colors Bangla is going viral on social media, in which Amitabh Bachchan can be seen praising Uttam Kumar. He says, ‘Hello I Amitabh Bachchan, when I started my acting, at that time there was a superstar of an actor who was a superstar and was known in almost every household of India, I am talking about the great actor Uttam Kumar ji.’ He further said, ‘The whole country, especially Bangal Dils Jaan .. Uttam ji’s level of greatness cannot be told in words, he was a person whose presence was very grand and vast. I remember the day when I had the privilege of meeting him. The way she talked about this art in this short meeting, she is seen in very few people nowadays.
Uttam Kumar gave many hit films with this Hasina
One of the biggest reasons for Uttam Kumar’s success was his chemistry with Suchitra Sen. Their on-screen pair became famous and both of them had a hit in Bengali cinema. She gave 29 hit films together, including films like ‘Harano Sur’, ‘Saptapadi’ and ‘Shilpi’. At the same time, director Satyajit Ray’s 1966 film ‘Nayak’ brought his career to heights. After this, Uttam Kumar was called Mahanayak. The word ‘Mahanayak’ became the identity of Uttam Kumar. In this way, while removing the tag of ‘Flop Master General’, he received the title of ‘Mahanayak’.
When Uttam Kumar himself drove and rushed to the hospital
On 23 July 1980, Uttam Kumar had chest pain during the shooting of the film ‘Ogo Bodhu Shundori’. He himself drove and reached the hospital. He died on 24 July 1980 the next day of treatment at the age of 53. The amazing thing was that Toliganj film Studio in Kolkata was named Uttam Manch in his honor. Uttam Kumar was awarded several big awards for his best performance. In 1967, he received the National Film Award for Best Actor for ‘Antony Firangi’ and ‘Chidiya’. Apart from this, in 2009, the Indian Postal Department issued a postage stamp in his honor. Not only this, the name of Kolkata Metro Station was changed to ‘Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Metro Station’.
