Uttam Kumar (3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), born Arun Kumar Chatterjee, was an Indian film actor, producer, director and singer who is regarded as the greatest star of Bengali cinema. Known as Mahanayak, “the great hero”, he acted in about two hundred films over three decades, formed with Suchitra Sen the most celebrated romantic pair of the Bengali screen, and won the first National Film Award for Best Actor.
Quick Facts
| Birth name | Arun Kumar Chatterjee |
| Born | 3 September 1926, Calcutta, Bengal |
| Died | 24 July 1980 (aged 53), Calcutta |
| Occupation | Actor, producer, director, singer |
| Years active | 1948–1980 |
| Known as | Mahanayak |
| Notable films | Sharey Chuattor, Agni Pariksha, Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Nayak, Antony Firingee |
| Spouse | Gauri Chatterjee (m. 1948) |
| Awards | National Film Award for Best Actor (1967) |
Early Life
He was born at his mother’s family home in north Calcutta and grew up in Bhowanipore in a middle-class family; his father worked at a cinema hall. He was educated at South Suburban School and joined college, but left without a degree to take a clerk’s job at the Calcutta Port Trust. He acted in amateur theatre in his neighbourhood, learned music and was determined to get into films.
Career
His first film was never released. Drishtidan (1948) was followed by a string of failures under different screen names, and people in the studios began to call him the “flop master general”. He kept his port job for several years. Basu Paribar (1952) was his first success.
The comedy Sharey Chuattor (1953) paired him for the first time with Suchitra Sen. Agni Pariksha (1954) made them stars, and over the next two decades they appeared together in about thirty films, among them Shap Mochan, Sagarika, Harano Sur, Pathe Holo Deri and Saptapadi. For Bengali audiences of the 1950s and 1960s, many of them uprooted by Partition, these romances offered an image of modern, dignified love, and the pair’s names became inseparable.
He was far more than a romantic lead. He played a cynical film star confronting his own emptiness on a train journey in Satyajit Ray‘s Nayak (1966), a part written for him, and the detective Byomkesh Bakshi in Ray’s Chiriyakhana. For that film and for Antony Firingee, in which he played a Portuguese-born folk poet of old Calcutta, he received the National Film Award for Best Actor when the award was first given in 1967. Other notable performances came in Jatugriha, Thana Theke Aschi, Stree and Sanyasi Raja.
He produced several films, directed a few, composed the music for one and sang. His ventures into Hindi cinema, beginning with Chhoti Si Mulaqat, which he produced at heavy loss, were less successful, though Amanush (1975) did well.
Personal Life
He married Gauri in 1948, and they had a son, Gautam. From the early 1960s he lived with the actor Supriya Devi. The losses on his Hindi production and his punishing schedule affected his health, and he suffered heart attacks.
Death
On 23 July 1980 he fell ill while shooting Ogo Bodhu Shundori and died the following day. Calcutta came to a standstill for his funeral.
Legacy
No Bengali actor has matched his hold on the public. A metro station in Tollygunge, the heart of the film industry, is named Mahanayak Uttam Kumar, and the West Bengal government gives awards in his name. His films are still shown constantly on television, and his style of speech, dress and smile remains the measure of a Bengali screen hero.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Uttam Kumar born?
Uttam Kumar was born on 3 September 1926 in Calcutta, Bengal.
When did Uttam Kumar die?
Died: 24 July 1980 (aged 53), Calcutta.
What is Uttam Kumar’s occupation?
Occupation: Actor, producer, director, singer.
What honours has Uttam Kumar received?
National Film Award for Best Actor (1967).
Featured image: Uttam Kumar, from the catalogue of the National Film Awards, 1968. Photo by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
