Before Amitabh Bachchan these were the great heroes, ever got the tag of ‘Flop Master General’
Amitabh Bachchan and Uttam Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan is said to be the first great hero of the century. The superstar has given several superhit and blockbuster films during his decades long career. He has tremendous fan following worldwide, but years before Big B’s entry into the film world, there was a superstar who was the first to get the nickname of the great hero. His stardom was such that he had the power to make a splash on the screen with every character. He also has a metro station named. The first superstar we are talking about is Uttam Kumar.
Not Amitabh Bachchan, he was the first actor
There was a time when Uttam Kumar of Kolkata was struggling to make his mark in the cinema world. However, when he got a chance to work in films, his initial films flopped, due to which he was called ‘Flop Master General’, after which his ability also started questioning. But, later he achieved the stardom by giving back-to-back hit films, which he dreamed. Today veteran actor Uttam Kumar is not among us. September 3 is the birth anniversary of Mahanayak Uttam Kumar.
Actor’s magic continued after a back-to-back flop
Today, Uttam Kumar, who is considered a great hero of Hindi and Bengali cinema, was called a flop artist at one time. Yes, Uttam Kumar got the tag of ‘Flop Master General’ after giving 7 consecutive flop films. The fate of the great flop actor was shunned when Uttam shook the box office with 10 superhit and blockbuster films one after the other. The 1952 film ‘Basu Parivar’ was the first hit of Uttam Kumar’s career. It is a Bengali film directed by Nirmal Day and made under the banner of MP Productions. The fame met with Suchitra Sen with ‘Sheri Chuatore’. The special thing is that he worked in 30 films with Suchitra Sen, out of which 29 films proved to be a hit. The amazing thing is that Amitabh Bachchan is also a fan of Uttam Kumar.
How Uttam Kumar died 45 years ago
Uttam Kumar died at the age of 53 on 24 July 1980 the next day of treatment. Toliganj Film Studio in Kolkata was named Uttam Manch in his honor. Uttam Kumar received the National Film Award for Best Actor in 1967 for ‘Antony Firangi’ and ‘Chidiya’. He was one of the stars whose Indian Postal Department issued a postage stamp in 2009. Not only this, the name of Kolkata Metro Station was changed to his honor to ‘Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Metro Station’.
