{"id":2003,"date":"2015-07-24T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=2003"},"modified":"2023-07-24T08:09:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T02:39:42","slug":"mahanayak-uttam-kumar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/mahanayak-uttam-kumar\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahanayak Uttam Kumar – the Most Enduring Matinee Idol"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Uttam

Uttam Kumar (Pic courtesy: Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen Bengali Cinema\u2019s First Couple <\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Like the commercial cinema of any region, Bengali cinema as well was never short of its stars since inception. The first genuine star was the inimitable actor-director Pramathes Barua whose tragedy-inflicted Devdas<\/em> (1935) had an entire generation lilt to the pain of an escapist suitor. There was also Dheeraj Bhattcharya with his aristocratic looks or Asit Baran with his humble next-door-boy image.<\/p>\n

In the 1950s came Basanta Chowdhury, Nirmal Kumar and Anil Chatterjee \u2013 all of them marked with good looks and excellent acting to support their screen presence. In 1959 Soumitra Chatterjee debuted in Satyajit Ray\u2019s third part of the Apu Trilogy \u2013 Apur Sansar<\/em> (The World of Apu<\/em>) and remained in the heart of Bengali and international film audience with his plethora of stupendous histrionic. However the first superstar and probably the most enduring matinee idol of Bengali cinema till date is bestowed on none-other-than Uttam Kumar \u2013 the true and only \u2018maha-nayak\u2019 of the Bengali entertainment industry.<\/p>\n

Arguably, in the three decades from the 1950s till death in 1980, Uttam Kumar acted in approximately 200 films; over 150 were hits making profits above the average.\u00a0 Uttam\u2019s first released film was Drishtidan<\/em> (1948) directed by legendary director Nitin Bose though he acted in Mayador<\/em> before this which was never released.<\/p>\n

\"Saare

Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen steal the hearts of the audience with their simple yet charming eloquence in Saare Chuattor<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

After a string of flops his first major hit came with Basu Paribar<\/em> in 1952. In the following year with Saare Chuattor<\/em> history was made in the Bengali film industry. It was a wholesome entertaining film and is recognised as an iconic comedy film on the Bengali screen. The elder pair of Tulsi Chakraborty and Malina Debi stole the show along with cameos from Bhanu Banerjee, Jahar Ray and others. Uttam and Suchitra rather made an impish entry for the first time as the romantic pair \u2013 not unnoticed but definitely not making much of an impact as well.\u00a0 The duo however did set the Bengali screen on fire till the rest of the decade of the 1950s with 20 films together. Along with them they took stardom to dizzy heights that no other romantic on-screen Bengali pair matched ever with the films like Sagaraika, Sapmochan, Sabar Uporey, Shilpi, Harano Sur, Pathe Holo Deri, Jiban Trishna, Indrani, Chawa Pawa<\/em> to name some.<\/p>\n

At the heart of most of these films is the Nehruvean ideal of a nuclear family for modern India where the village boy finds settlement in the urban Indian city. It is his journey towards the exterior, leaving the comforts of his joint family in the village. In this he finds an able partner in the form of a girl-friend who ascends to a wife to wade off the struggles and difficulties imposed on them by the society at large.<\/p>\n

\"Uttam

Uttam and Suchitra in Agnipariksha<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

This self-reliant couplet represented the modern India of the 1950\u2019s \u2013 a dream for many a migrant Bengali men who had to leave their birthplace in East Bengal, now Bangladesh in search of a fortune in the city of Calcutta. Uttam Kumar represented that dream of a migrant nation, romantic in vision yet timid with a fear of an uncertain future – but, forever smiling. Uttam Kumar had a unique smiling quotient. It would make him look like a warm son, a loving elder brother and most importantly an unflinching romantic partner. Even with moderate looks, this smile won him hearts \u2013 \u201cUttam Da had used it as his lethal weapon, he knew it works and used it profusely without making it look too commonplace\u201d quipped Soumitra Chatterjee, his compatriot.\u00a0 And most of these films had scintillating songs \u2013 Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee playing back for Uttam Kumar and Sandhya Mukherjee for Suchitra Sen, a chemistry that was no less important to make their films super hits.<\/p>\n

The magnum success of the 1950s as a romantic pair had an interesting turn in the following decade as they acted together in only 4 films and the same number in the 1970s. The major hit during this time is Saptapadi<\/em> (1961) which also remains one of their all-time biggest hits.<\/p>\n

The most popular romantic duet of Bengali cinema, \u2018Ei Path Jodi na sesh hoy\u2019 \u2013 Hemanta-Sandya for Uttam-Suchitra in Saptapadi<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n