In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Bengali films flourished under able acting and romantic screen presence of a number of actors and heroes. While Uttam Kumar Chatterjee was the biggest matinee idol to have graced Bengali celluloid, the other actors were equally versatile including Asit Boron, Bikash Roy, Bosonto Choudhury, Nirmal Kumar and others. Anil Chatterjee during that period of time made his mark in art films of Hrithik Ghatak like Meghe Dhaka Tara, Komol Gandhar, but when he faced Uttam Kumar in commercial films both the actors balanced each other.
Uttam Kumar acted in more than 200 films and played
different roles from zamindars to poets to singers to middle class Bengali characters. In Agnishanskar directed by Agradoot, Uttam Kumar played the lead role in 1961. In the same film Anil Chatterjee played the role of the anti-hero. He committed suicide and in the note mentioned the name of Uttam Kumar as the person behind his death. At the end of the film the Jailor played by Chabi Biswas investigated the matter and proved Uttam Kumar to be innocent. Both the actors complimented each other.In 1963, Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee met each other in the film Surjosikha. In that film Uttam Kumar was a military officer. Anil Chatterjee also wanted to marry the heroine of the film played by Supriya Choudhury. At the end of the film Uttam Kumar succeeded as the first choice for the actress Supriya Choudhury who did not want to marry Anil Chatterjee. Both Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee acted in the film Uttarayan also in the year 1963. The performances of both the actors were per excellence in the film.
In Tapan Sinha’s film Jatugriha, again Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee met each other. This time Uttam Kumar was the executive officer and boss of Government Architect company in Kolkata. Anil Chatterjee played the role of the subordinate officer of the same Company. In the film the struggle was related to peace in family. While Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Devi were solvent but they did not have any children, Anil Chatterjee and his wife Kajal Gupta had many children but struggled to earn bread and butter. While Uttam Kumar with all his wealth was not happy and at the end got separated with Arundhati Debi for marital unrest for not begetting children, Anil Chatterjee was happy with his family even inspite of facing struggles of life and poverty. When Uttam Kumar offered Anil Chatterjee to live in his newly built house which he designed for himself but could not live due to separation with Arundhati Debi, Anil Chatterjee said he believed in hard work and one day he also dreamed about living in a better house and giving light and air to his children. The film shook the intellectual community of Bengal and became a landmark in Bengali films due to brilliance of both the great actors.
Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee were outstanding in the film Banpalashir Padabali. While Uttam Kumar played the role of villager in the film, Anil Chatterjee played the role of doctor in the film. The film became a big hit. Uttam Kumar gave brilliant lips in Shyamal Mitra’s
songs “aha mori mori cholite cholite”, “dekhuk paraparshite Kemon mach gethechi borshite”, “udas bayul nei to bayul aar”. Very significantly both Anil Chatterjee and Uttam Kumar did not take any remuneration for acting in the film, and the profits of the film was distributed to Shilpi Sanghad which catered to needs of different cameramen, makeupmen, technicians, junior artists of Bengal.When Uttam Kumar acted in the films of Bollywood directors like Shakti Shamanta again the encounter between Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee enchanted the viewers. Shakti Shamanta made Bengali film Amanush in 1974. In 1975, Shakti Samanta again made hindi film Amanush having the same characters. While Uttam Kumar played the role of fisherman in the film, Anil Chatterjee played the role of police officer in the film. There were scenes in the film when Uttam Kumar was complained about assault on local fishermen, Anil Chatterjee gave third degree to him in police station. But in the film Anil Chatterjee transformed the character of Uttam Kumar who loved Sharmila Tagore in the film. Utpal Dutta played the role of the villain in the film. Kishore Kumar received filmfare award for best male playback singer in 1975 for his song for Uttam Kumar namely “dil aisa kisi ne mera tora barbadi ki taraf aisa mora”. Shyamal Mitra composed the music of the film. The Bengali song of Kishore Kumar for Uttam Kumar was also hit namely “ki ashae bandhi khelaghar bedonar baluchore”.
While Uttam Kumar addressed the mass audience through his romantic films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Harano sur, Saptapadi in the 1950s and 1960s, when his pair with Suchitra Sen was considered the best romantic pair ever to have graced Indian cinema, Anil Chatterjee concentrated in art films like Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar, Post Master, Tapan Sinha’s Nirjan Saikate, Sagina Mahato, Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Hritik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara, Komol Gandhar, to name a few. Anil Chatterjee had many super hit commercial films under his belt like Deshobandu Chitta Ranjan Das, Notun Jibon, Aohan, during the same period when Uttam Kumar gave hits after hits like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela, Antony Firingi, etc.
The two great actors met each other in many other Bengali films like Sabyasachi, Ami Se O Sakha, and many other films. Significantly Hrishikesh Mukherjee made his film Bemisaal as a remake of Bengali film Ami Se O Sakha. While Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee played lead roles opposite Kaberi Bose in the Bengali film, Amitabh Bacchan played Uttam Kumar’s role and Vinod Mehra played Anil Chatterjee’s role in the film Bemisaal. Rakhee played the role of Kaberi Bose in the film Bemisaal.
One article is too small to highlight the great performances of Uttam Kumar and Anil Chatterjee in Bengali films as both the actors galvanized Bengali films for more than 35 years and entertained the audience. They remain in the hearts of numerous bengalies all over the world. The films and the songs require restoration.
