New Delhi, Oct. 9 -- Uttam Kumar is no longer just an emotion for Bengalis. In the year of the matinee idol's birth centenary, it's time to say it out loud. He has become part of the Bengali psyche and myth. He may not have had a towering physique, but he possessed a billion-watt smile and an acting calibre that was truly global.
Veteran actress Aparna Sen, who shared screen space with the legendary actor in several films, recently recalled an incident from a film set that revealed a side of Uttam Kumar few might have known. She has always addressed him as Uttam Babu. At the time, he was at the peak of his career in the 1970s and was taking his time to memorise his dialogues. Sen, a quick learner, had already learnt her lines and began wondering why her co-star was taking so long. Despite being nearly 20 years younger than him, she mustered the courage to ask him. "Uttam Babu told me, 'I have a stutter. If I don't memorise my dialogues thoroughly, I might face difficulty while delivering them'," Sen recalled.
The candid admission left her surprised and shocked. Here was a matinee idol whose films could draw audiences away from everything else, openly sharing his vulnerability with a young actress who was still finding her feet. "He was such a huge star. Audiences left everything to watch his films. Yet, he spoke to me, someone so much younger than him in age and experience, about his stutter. It showed the kind of confidence he had as an actor, as well as his honesty," Sen said. The actress-filmmaker was speaking at a special talk show at Kolkata Centre for Creativity, where the exhibition 'Uttam Kumar at 100: The Making of Bengal's Eternal Star' is on view until October 11. The exhibition showcases a detailed journey of his life as an actor and how he emerged as the cultural icon of Bengal.
Sen's first Bengali film with Uttam Kumar was Salil Dutta's 'Aparichita' (1969), based on Samaresh Basu's novel of the same name. The film also featured Soumitra Chatterjee. Yet, Sen's first impressions of mainstream Bengali cinema had been far from favourable. The daughter of veteran film historian Chidananda Das Gupta, who co-founded the Calcutta Film Society with Satyajit Ray in 1947, grew up watching international cinema. Bengali films, particularly mainstream productions of the 1960s, were not encouraged at home. Her first exposure to Bengali cinema came through Ray's cult classic 'Pather Panchali'.
"I wasn't permitted to watch Bengali cinema. I had a particular friend who would narrate the stories of films in great detail and every girl in class would listen to her with rapt attention, especially when she spoke about films starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. I always felt deprived. As a result, I developed a rather snobbish attitude towards mainstream Bengali cinema," she recalled. That perception, however, began to crumble when she worked with Uttam Kumar in 'Aparichita'. Her first scene with him proved to be a revelation.
"I remember a scene with Uttam Babu entering the room, swinging a key ring in his hand and looking at me. He looked extremely fit and handsome. Suddenly, he turned towards me and the swinging of the keys stopped. I was completely taken in by his aura. That was when I realised I had been wrong about him," Sen said. Later, Sen worked with the matinee idol in films like 'Mem Saheb', 'Ekhane Pinjar', 'Rater Rajanigandha', 'Kaya Hiner Kahini', 'Nidhi Ram Sardar', 'Alor Thikana', 'Kalankita Nayak', 'Jadu Bangsha' and 'Jay Jayanti'.
Working alongside Uttam Kumar also offered Sen valuable lessons in acting. She recalled how receptive he was to new ideas and how seriously he considered suggestions from his co-actors. "He was always open to improvisation. I saw him take my suggestions seriously and think them over. He was also extremely fit. In 'Kaya Hiner Kahini', there was a scene in which he had to lift me. Before the shot, he told me he would do a fireman's lift. I had no idea what that meant, but he asked me to trust him. He lifted me with ease," she said.
Uttam Kumar maintained a disciplined fitness routine, exercising regularly and swimming. He was well-read and watched a great deal of cinema. Among his many performances, Sen particularly admired him in 'Champadangar Bou' and 'Marutirtha Hinglaj'. "He had the charm of the boy next door, which is rare. Mothers wanted him to be their son, girls were drawn to him and men wanted to be like him. He became almost like a member of the family for Bengali audiences," she said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.