Contribution of Geeta Dutt in Bengali films.

Contribution of Geeta Dutt in Bengali films.

Geeta Dutt was probably the most successful playback singer of bollywood films after Lata Mangeshkar in the 50s and 60s. She had sung for all the leading singers of the period including Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Wahida Rehman and others.

Geeta Dutt was extremely successful in Bengali films as well. Her song “tumi je amar” sung in the film Harano Sur for Suchitra Sen became the greatest hit of the 50s. The song was played in Uttam Kumar’s film Harano Sur a number of times by the director Ajoy Kar and was used to bring back the memory of Uttam Kumar who lost it in an accident.

Geeta Dutt’s songs “ogo shundara”, “jhanak jhanak madhur badhon baaje” and “nir choto khoti nei” composed by Nochiketa Ghosh and picturised on Suchitra Sen in the film Indrani stormed the bollywood viewers in 1958. The film became super hit and songs became timeless hits.

Suchitra Sen and Geeta Dutt combination again struck gold in the film Hospital. The song “ei shundor sharnali shondhay” became super hit in the film. Very Geeta Dutt suited Suchitra Sen as well as Sandhya Mukherjee’s voice. Both Geeta Dutt and Sandhya Mukherjee used to be considered the most popular singers of the golden age, the 50s and 60s.

Geeta Dutt’s other hit songs in Bengali films include “amar duti chokhe” and “ei mayabi tithi” sung in Uttam Kumar’s film Sonar Horin. The songs were picturised on the actress Namita Sinha. Geeta Dutt’s song “kacher chirir chotay” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta and picturised on Sabitri Chatterji became super hit in 1958. It was song in Agragami’s epic film Dakharkara where Kali Banerjee played the role of his life.

Geeta Dutt sang many memorable hit songs for Mala Sinha in Bengali films. One of such songs included “nishi raat banka chaand akashe” in Uttam Kumar’s film Prithibi Amare Chay. The other song include “banshi bujhi shei sure aar baajbe na” sung in the film Sathi Hara with Mala Sinha and Uttam Kumar.

The other films where Geeta Dutt made significant contribution included Lukochuri, Modhyorater Tara, etc. Geeta Dutt’s songs should be preserved and restored.

Riya Sen remained a mediocre actress.

Riya Sen remained a mediocre actress.

Riya Sen, the granddaughter of famous actress Suchitra Sen, remained a very mediocre actress even after being in the bollywood industry for more than 10 years. She was born as the daughter of Moon Moon Sen in 1981.

Her film career started in 1991 as a child artist in the film Vishkanya. In 2001 she acted in the film Style. Her experience as model helped her in getting offers in bollywood films. After acting in films like Jhankar Beats, she got a prominent role in David Dhawan’s comedy film Shaadi No. 1 in 2005.

Shaadi No. 1 was a comedy film in which Riya Sen along with two other girls lured Fardeen Khan, Zaid Khan and his friend and had an affair with them. The wives of all these women complained about the activities of their husbands to Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt compelled Riya Sen and the other girlfriends to leave Fardeen Khan and company as their marital life was getting disturbed. David Dhawan’s comedy treatment entertained the viewers.

She also got a small role in the film Heroes with Sohail Khan. Sohail Khan and his friend made a video film on real life stories of heroes who had sacrificed their lives for the nation. After seeing the lives of Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakravarthy the two students including Sohail Khan got transformed. The music of the film was equally impressive.

But if her career is compared with Suchitra Sen, then she had remained only a mediocre actress. Suchitra Sen was called by Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Asit Sen, Gulzar to act in landmark films. Most of her films remained landmarks in bollywood films history including Devdas, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, to name a few. She even portrayed the character of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the film Aandhi.

Riya Sen should act in prominent roles of popular directors to get recognition and also improve her acting.

Happy birthday to Gulzar.

Happy birthday to Gulzar.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to legendary director and lyricist Gulzar on 18th August, 2009. He had been one of the greatest living legends at this moment. Bollywood is indebted to thoughtful director who had converted filmmaking into work of art.

His film Mausam was based on reflections of mind. Sanjeev Kumar was attached with Sharmila Tagore living in Darjeeling when he came over there as a student. After he went abroad to pursue his post-graduate studies, Sharmila was exploited and her daughter how looked identical like her mother was compelled to join prostitution.

Sanjeev Kumar returned as a foreign-return doctor and took his daughter away from the surroundings and gave her a new life. Bhupinder Singh’s ghazal “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi” composed by Madan Mohan and written by Gulzar remains as the greatest ghazal created in the 70s. The story-telling in the film was appreciated by critics.

Gulzar created a different dimension by experimented with classic literature during the 70s and 80s. His films Aandhi with Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar and Kinara with Jeetender and Hema Malini can very well be classified as master pieces. He gave very meaningful sequences where songs were recorded. He created a separate fanclub for himself who could understand human relations at the same period when larger than life images were created in main stream cinema of Big B, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha and other angry young men in films like Sholay, Kalicharan, Burning Train, etc.

Gulzar’s films created for children like Parichay and Kitaab are still considered masterpieces. He was impressed by the thoughts of Hollywood film Sound of Music and Uttam Kumar’s Joyjoyanti to make a film related to five children who required a good teacher. Jeetender treated them with compassion and brought change in the children. In Kitaab, Uttam Kumar cared for his brother-in-law Master Raju who was a small child and had been send by her mother to get educated in urbanized background.
Gulzar experimented with so many diverse subjects that articles after articles can be devoted to his different themes, including the film Koshish, based on life of deaf and dumb, Lekin, based on folklore of Rajasthan. All his artists like Suchitra Sen, Jaya Bacchan, Sharmila Tagore, Uttam Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetender portrayed the life of middle-class men who were found in everyday life.

His composers, Jaidev, Madan Mohan, Khayyam, RD Burman all had given their best music for the thoughtful director. These days Gulzar concentrates more on writing lyrics. In that field too he had been master of masters.

His admirers expect him to continue to make rich films which makes the audience think, feel and reflect on the happiness and sniffles of life.

Review of Uttam Kumar's film Kamallata.

Review of Uttam Kumar’s film Kamallata.

Harishadhon Dasgupta took a big challenge in making a film on Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s classic literature Kamallata. Uttam Kumar played the role of Sarat Chandra himself named (Srikanto) in the film. Suchitra Sen played the role of Kamallata while Nirmal Kumar played the role of a muslim poet called Gahar Goshai.

A farmhouse in the districts of West Bengal was used by Harishadhan Dasgupta to portray a baisnav akhra (the place where devotees of God Vishnu stay together). Suchitra Sen was subjected to unrest in her family after her relationship with Biren Chatterji had been criticized and joined the Baishnav Akhra. Nirmal Kumar, the poet, wrote Ramayana in new style, and also wrote songs devoted to God Vishnu inspite of being a muslim.

Pahari Sanyal and other elders in the akhra appreciated the literary work of Nirmal Kumar and his monetary contribution for the development of the charitable institution. Uttam Kumar was his friend and visited the place a number of times and came to know the story of Suchitra Sen. The other members of the institution were narrow minded and just because Suchitra Sen communicated with Nirmal Kumar, asked her to leave the place.

Nirmal Kumar died at the end of the film and gave all his property to the Institution. Uttam Kumar took Suchitra Sen from the place and reached her to safe place in Kolkata. Sarat Chandra Chatterji had shown that tolerance of every faith was the actual realization based on which the meaning of religion could be understood.

Nirmal Kumar received BFJA award for his brilliant performance in the film. He gave excellent lips in Shyamal Mitra’s devotional song (baishnavgeeti) “o mon kokhon shuru” and “mane na e mon”. Robin Chatterji the music director of the film showed his brilliance in composing devotional songs as well.
The film did excellent business after release in 1969 and still remains an inspiration for new directors in making films with classic literature. The film and music of the film should be restored.

Chabi Biswas is remembered on his birth anniversary.

Chabi Biswas is remembered on his birth anniversary.

The viewers of Indian cinema remembered Chabi Biswas, the towering actor on his birth anniversary on 12th July, 2009. The legend had been considered the greatest actor ever to grace Indian celluloid by Oscar Winning director Satyajit Ray. Had he not met with a fatal accident in 1962 and died, Ray could have experimented much more with the dignified actor.

Firstly Chabi Biswas was the pivot around whom the entire Bengali film industry revolved. Tapan Sinha relied on the majestic actor in playing the role of Kabuliwala in Tagore’s classic Kabuliwala. Ajoy Kar asked Chabi Biswas to present his dignity in the film Saptapadi where he played the role of the father of Uttam Kumar who could not accept his change of religion from being Hindu to Christian. At the end of the film Chabi Biswas acknowledged the greatness of Suchitra Sen who loved Uttam Kumar, yet sacrificed her affair as she gave word to Chabi Biswas about not meeting him in her entire life.

Chabi Biswas was equally majestic in Ajoy Kar’s classic Suno Boro Nari. His character of Udashin had the right combination of dignity, aristocracy and discipline. He was barrister of reputation who did not allow his daughter Supriya Choudhury to marry Uttam Kumar who was assumed to be a poor homeopathy doctor. But he was left speechless when the actual identity of Uttam Kumar was revealed as a renouned Professor of Literature.

Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar tested the range of performance of Chabi Biswas and delivered blood and flesh in the character of Biswambar Roy who was a feudal lord of West Bengal. In fact Chabi Biswas was an unparallel figure in the roles of zamindars during colonial regime. His performance in Karthik Chatterji’s Saheb Bibi Ghulam, Rajen Tarafdar’s Antarikha was equally brilliant, where critics argued that Chabi Biswas even did more than the expectation of the directors in portraying the aristocracy of the zamindars.

Chabi Biswas had acted in more than 250 films during a span of 25 years and articles after articles can be devoted on his different andaz that was displayed in celluloid. His performance in Shambhu Mitra’s film Manik could have brought him Oscar, had the film being send by India abroad. He played the role of a paralytic patient with such diction that the viewers and the directors thought the character from Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist had come out the pages of the book and appeared onscreen.

Raj Kapoor was astonished to see Chabi Biswas’s performance in his film Ekdin Ratre. The lips given by Chabi Biswas in Manna Dey’s song “ei duniyay bhai sabi hoi” compelled Raj Kapoor to agree that he was the greatest actor Raj Kapoor had seen in Indian films. He in fact regretted the absence of Chabi Biswas in bollywood films which could raised the standard of those films to another dimension.

Viewers still search Chabi Biswas in his unforgettable performances in films like Shashibabur Sangsar, Dada Thakur, Sabar Opore, Head Master, to name a few and never consider his death as a reality. His films should be preserved for the next generation to mark the level of excellence created by the greatest actor of Indian films ever.

The nation remembers Uttam Kumar on his death anniversary.

The nation remembers Uttam Kumar on his death anniversary.

The nation remembers Uttam Kumar, one of the greatest superstars of Indian celluloid on his death anniversary on 24th July, 2009. He has died almost 29 years ago, yet the viewers had not forgotten his films and still his presence is felt in the life bengalies in different parts of the world.

Oscar winning director Satyajit Ray acknowledged the dynamic presence of the legendary superstar in Bengali films and made a film Nayak based on the story of Uttam Kumar. His original name was Arun Kumar Chatterji, who was a clerk in Port Commission before joining Bengali films.

When he joined films with Drishtidaan in 1948, he had to struggle to create his image as against he established heroes like Asit Boron, Bikash Roy and others. In 1952, his film Basu Paribar struck at the box-office and he overtook Bosonto Choudhury, Asit Boron and became the leading superstar of Bengali films. All the qualities of a romantic hero was possessed by him, including a standard height, good complexion, manly voice, romantic hairstyle and unique dialogue delivery. Any dress suited the legendary superstar including Punjabi, dhoti, coat, Bengali dresses, etc.

He had acted in the films of all the legendary directors of the golden age including Satyajit Ray’s Nayak, Chiriakhana, Tapan Sinha’s Jhinder Bandi, Upahaar and Jotugriha, Ajoy Kar’s Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Suno Bara Nari, etc., Agradoot’s Bipasha, Surjo Toron, etc., Agragami’s Sagarika, Shonkhobela, to name a few. Uttam Kumar acted opposite all the leading actresses of Bengali celluloid including Suchitra Sen, Arundhuti Debi, Manju Dey, Sabitri Chatterji, Supriya Choudhury, Mala Sinha, and others. His combination with Suchitra Sen had given everlasting classics and both of them still remains the most romantic pair in Indian silver screen.

Uttam Kumar’s films were based on rich literature including Tagore’s Khokababur Protyaborton, Subodh Ghosh’s Suno Bara Nari, Samaresh Bose’s Kuhak, Sorodindu Bondhopadyay’s Chiriakhana, Shankar’s Chourangi. The films were related to different types of stories including comedy stories, tragic stories, soft romantic stories, etc.

Uttam Kumar had acted in around 205 films (including bollywood films like Amanush, Anand Ashram, Choti Si Mulakat, Dooriyan, Kitaab etc., ) in a span of 35 years, and all his films had remained everlasting treasures.

Even the singers who had sung for him including Manna Dey, Shyamal Mitra, Hemanta Mukherjee, etc., agreed that they did not find any actor who was parallel to Uttam Kumar in giving lips in songs. He made the viewers feel that he only sang the songs.

Articles after articles can be devoted to Uttam Kumar who was one –man –industry in Bengali films. His films should be revisited to create motivation for making better quality films in future.

Review of Uttam Kumar's Ekti Raat.

Review of Uttam Kumar’s film Ekti Raat.

Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengali films, created sensation in the 50s, with the legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Whenever both the romantic performers performed together, middle-class bengalies associated themselves with the characters and became part of the same film. Till today, they are still considered to be the most romantic pair, who had graced Indian silver screen.

In Ekti Raat, while Uttam Kumar’s wife Sabita Chatterji, lost her train, due to contingent reasons, Uttam Kumar travelled with Suchitra Sen was also married to his destination in car. As that car also faced mechanical problems, they had to stay in Tulsi Chakravarty’s hotel for one night. Tulsi Chakravarty, only allowed married couples in his hotel, and for staying over there for a night, Uttam Kumar had to tell a lie that he was the husband of Suchitra Sen.

Suchitra Sen came with her dog, which ran away from the garden of that hotel and ran into the fields at night. Malina Debi, the mother of Sabita Chatterji, went to the house where her daughter was supposed to go to trace her son-in-law. All the events continued one after the other with comedy sequences. When Kamal Mitra, the husband of Suchitra Sen, came to know about the incident, he decided that he had to do play acting with Uttam Kumar to convince his wife, that nothing untoward happened during the night when Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen stayed together in the same room.

The last part of the film was related to the manner in which the Sabita Chatterji was reconciled with the assistance of relatives like Pahari Sanyal, Chandabati Debi and others. Bhanu Banerjee played the role of a drunkard in the film.

The music of the film was brilliant with experiments done by Anupam Ghatak. Sandhya Mukherjee was elegant as usual especially in the song “kakon bole srimoti kande”. Her voice suited Suchitra Sen the most and she was indebted to Sandhya Mukherjee for her huge success in bengali films. The film released in 1956, had not lost its appeal even after 50 years of creation and should be restored.

Review of Uttam- Suchitra's Bipasha.

Review of Uttam – Suchitra’s Bipasha.

Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen are considered to be the greatest romantic pair that ever graced Indian silver screen. They acted in 30 films together and most of their films ended up being cine-classics. Bipasha was released in 1962 and did fantastic business.

It was a film directed by Agradoot where Robin Chatterji composed the music. Suchitra Sen was named Beas (Bipasha in Bengali) as she was born near river Beas. She lost her parents during riots occurring at the time of partition in 1947. She was saved by Kamal Mitra, a divine soul near Sialkot and reached to relief camp in New Delhi. She studied there and got a job in tribal welfare in Panchet in Bihar.

Uttam Kumar was an engineer who worked in Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) projects. Both Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar met each other and entered into an affair. Suchitra Sen gave able lips in Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “aami sapne tomay dekhechi”. When Uttam Kumar wanted to marry Suchitra Sen, he got a letter from his maternal uncle played by Nitish Mukherjee saying that he was illegitimate son of his mother Chaya Debi.

Uttam Kumar went to Allahabad to find his mother and in her absence attempted to commit suicide. Chabi Biswas, a sanyasi there saved him. He wrote a letter saying that Uttam Kumar (Dibyendu Chatterji) was the son of Saradindu Chatterji (Chabi Biswas). Chaya Debi (his wife) gave birth to him before her marriage. Chabi Biswas went abroad and married another foreign girl. The foreigner filed a suit against Chabi Biswas after she knew that he was already married to Chaya Debi. Their Chaya Debi gave false testimony saying that she was not married to Chabi Biswas, to save her husband. Uttam Kumar came to be known as illegitimate son from that time. After that Chabi Biswas gave the contact details of Chaya Debi. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen found her and film ended there.

The powerful story was given adequate expression by compassionate performance of legendary actor Chabi Biswas. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s romantic performance just improved from film to film and viewers started thinking that both of them were husband and wife.

It is a pity that Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen did not show their powerful performance in bollywood films, otherwise they would have given very tough competition to Raj Kapoor and Nargis and Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala who ruled bollywood industry in the 50s. The film Bipasha should be restored for its aesthetic value.

Review of Suchitra Sen's Uttar Falguni.

Review of Suchitra Sen’s Uttar Falguni.

Suchitra Sen was the greatest actress Bengal had ever produced in the history of cinema. She had remained one of the most versatile actresses produced by Indian cinema in the last 60 years.

Uttar Falguni was released in 1963, at a time when Suchitra Sen was ruling the Bengali silver screen. While romantic performance in 30 films opposite superstar Uttam Kumar established her as the queen of Bengali cinema, her performance in female dominated films like Deep Jele Jai created a new dimension in the world of creative arts.

Uttar Falguni was directed by Asit Sen. The music was composed by Robin Chatterji. Suchitra Sen played the role of the girl Debjani, who loved Barrister Manish (played by Bikash Roy), but due to repayment of loan of father Jahar Ganguly, married a characterless person Rakhal Bhattacharya played by Kalipada Chakravarty. Bikash Roy went abroad and asked Suchitra Sen to wait till he returned to India. But due to compelling circumstances Suchitra Sen married Kalipada Chakravarty.

Suchitra Sen gave birth to Kalipada Chakravarty’s daughter and to rear her up became Pannabai (a singer who earned money by performing in mujras). She admitted her daughter in a missionary school and promised before the principal that she would never disclose her identity before her daughter. But her husband Rakhal Bhattacharya used to visit Suchitra Sen’s house and take money with the threat that he would find out her daughter and disclose his identity before her.

Bikash Roy came back to India, went to Lucknow to meet Suchitra Sen. He even agreed to marry her but Suchitra Sen said that it was too late. Instead she asked her to take the responsibility relating to education of her daughter. Bikash Roy send Suchitra Sen’s daughter Suchorita (also played by Suchitra Sen) abroad. She became a Barrister and returned back with young barrister played by Dilip Mukherjee.

But when Sucharita was seen in Kolkata High Court with Bikash Roy, her father Rakhal Bhattacharya blackmailed her mother saying that he would disclose the fact that Suchitra Sen’s mother was a baijee. Debjani (Suchitra Sen) killed Rakhal Bhattacharya by firing 6 bullets.

When the murder case was tried in Court of law, Sucharita compelled Bikash Roy to disclose his relationship with Debjani. That was the most delirium scene of the film. Bikash Roy told the entire history of the sacrifice of Debjani and all her efforts to make her daughter a barrister. Sucharita pleaded before the court to acquit her mother as the murder did occur out of adequate provocation. Her mother died at the witness box itself.

The film was remade in hindi with the title Mamta. But it miserably failed to match the epic performance of the stars in Uttar Falguni. Undoubtedly it was the best performance of Suchitra Sen in her double role. Bikash Roy also rose up to the occasion in an Uttam Kumar production, where Uttam Kumar did not play the role but left it upto the experience of respectable Bikash Roy.

Uttar Falguni had been a milestone of Indian classic cinema and should be preserved for the following generations.

Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee

Robin Chatterji and Sandhya Mukherjee.

Robin Chatterji was the uncrowned king of bengali cinema during the golden age in the world of music direction. The entire industry dependant on Robin Chatterji and whatever work he had produced can be very well be designated as masterpieces. He contributed the most in Suchitra Sen’s films and for those reasons Sandhya Mukherjee, whose voice suited Suchitra Sen the most, sang majority of songs composed by the legendary composer.

In Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen’s film Sagarika, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “sei to amar prothomo phaguna bela” composed by Robin Chatterji mesmerized the audience along with Alpona Banerjee’s “hridoy amar sundoro tobo paye” picturised on Jamuna Sinha and Shyamal Mitra’s “amar sapne dekha rakonya” picturised on Uttam Kumar. The film stormed Bengali cinema as the audience accepted Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen as the greatest romantic pair to be ever born in this country.

Robin Chatterji’s composition for Sandhya Mukherjee titled “dheere bondhu dheere” in the film Pathe Holo Deri had the romantic element embedded in them. Similarly in the film Pathe Holo Deri, all the compositions of Robin Chatterji for Sandhya Mukherjee including “e sudhu ganer din”, “e chaya bhora logone aaj”, “tumi na hoy rohite kache”, etc., presented the romantic presentation of Bengali modern songs for the first time.

The same combination had provided brilliant songs like “monero madhuri mishaye” in Suchitra Sen’s film Shriti Tuku Thak, “ami sapne tomay dekhechi” in Suchitra Sen’s film Bipasha, “ghum ghum chand” in Suchitra Sen’s film Sabar Upore, to name a few. Robin Chatterji provided brilliant tunes to Sandhya Mukherjee in also films like Nayikar Bhumikay, including devotional songs like “notun surjo alo dao, alo dao”.

Robin Chatterji exploited the classical skills of Sandhya Mukherjee, as she was the student of Ustad Bare Ghulam Ali Khan, in the film Uttar Falguni. Suchitra Sen played the role of the singer Panna Bai in the film who sacrificed her entire life to make her daughter a barrister. The film had classical songs and Sandhay Mukherjee’s classical andaz created separate dimension for the viewers. In the hindi remake of the same film titled Mamta, composer Roshan had to match the classical compositions of Robin Chatterji, as the Bengali film won international awards for best performance and other technical awards.

Besides Sandhya Mukherjee had many basic discs of Bengali modern songs like “amare loye je”, “ei nodi tire”, etc., composed by Robin Chatterji, which had the same romantic appeal and brilliant use of the piano which was used with elegance by Robin Chatterji, all along his career.

Probably Suchitra Sen could never had become mahanayika (megaactress), had she not got the compositions of Robin Chatterji and songs of Sandhya Mukherjee, as they contributed even in actress-oriented films like Grihadaha, Kamallata, where Suchitra Sen played character roles. The films having compositions of Robin Chatterji and songs of Sandhya Mukherjee should be preserved and restored for their musical value.

Sanjeev Kumar and Gulzar.

Sanjeev Kumar and Gulzar.

Sanjeev Kumar was one of the gifted actors of 70s who was indispensable in bollywood industry. He had performed in every type of films including classic pictures like Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ki Khiladi to commercially successful blockbusters like Sholay.

But the director who had used his talents to their limits was Gulzar. Gulzar dealt with classic literature and life of the middle-class man with their crude reality. Sanjeev Kumar fulfilled most of his requirements in diversified roles.

He was sublime in the film Koshish, which was based on the life of a deaf and dumb couple. Although he himself could not speak, he learnt the art of reading faces by which the communication could be understood by attending classes in deaf and dumb school. He taught the skill to his wife Jaya Bacchan also in the film. He only had eyes and face to express the feelings of the character and he did it in style. The scene where his child did not respond to a musical toy was very touchy. He thought his child was also deaf and actually the toy was defective and did not make any sound.

In Mausam, he recollected his romantic memories with Sharmila Tagore during the time when he entered into an affair with her during his student life. He came to Darjeeling as a medical student and was treated by Om Shivpuri, the father of Sharmila Tagore in the film. But after promising to marry Sharmila Tagore he went for Higher Education and returned after a long period of time. By that time Sharmila gave birth to a daughter, died herself and the daughter entered unlawful business to earn her livelihood. The reflections in the film could only be expressed by a stalwart of the callibre of Sanjeev Kumar.

Again Gulzar used him in style in the film Aandhi. He was compassionate to his wife played by Suchitra Senn who was a political in the film. She was cornered from every angle by her opposition and could only communicate about her feelings to her husband Sanjeev Kumar who stayed separately as his profession was different from his wife. Sanjeev Kumar even received filmfare award for best actor in the film.

The other landmark films of Gulzar, where Sanjeev Kumar was sublime include Parichay, Angoor, Namkeen, etc. All the roles played by Sanjeev Kumar in Gulzar’s films were different from one another and had sensitive human values attached to them.

Sanjeev Kumar entered the skin of the characters and made the viewers believe in them through his sheer brilliance. It is a pity that Sanjeev Kumar did not get the recognition he deserved and never became a phenomenon like Dilip Kumar or Balraj Sahani, but whenever viewers revisit his films they agree on the point that he was the fit performance for bringing life in classic roles in Gulzar’s films. The films should be restored for those reasons.

Chabi Biswas in Ajoy Kar's films.

Chabi Biswas in Ajoy Kar’s films.

Chabi Biswas, the greatest actor of Bengali cinema had shaped the destiny of renowned directors of the golden age including Satyajit Ray, Hritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha and others. Ajoy Kar learned photography from abroad and used the talents of the leading actors and actresses of celluloid with style.

Ajoy Kar had a great admiration for the legendary actor Chabi Biswas whose dignified appearance created a special dimension in silver screen. In Ajoy Kar’s epic film Saptapadi, Chabi Biswas played the role of the father of the central character Krishnendu Mukherjee that was played by Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar entered into an affair with Rina Brown, an Anglo Indian Christian character played by Suchitra Sen in the film.

Ajoy Kar displayed the social barriers that were led down in the marriage between two communities during the age of orthodox people. Chabi Biswas was an orthodox Brahmin and a devotee of Goddess Kali. He could not accept the transformation of Uttam Kumar from a Hindu to a Christian for marrying Suchitra Sen. He came to Suchitra Sen’s house and explained to her that if Uttam Kumar would have married her he would have been isolated from his family, his neighbours, the society, as a whole.

Suchitra Sen promised Chabi Biswas that she would leave Uttam Kumar and never meet him in her life. Uttam Kumar converted himself to Christian, became a doctor and never got a scope of marrying Suchitra Sen. At the end of the film when Suchitra Sen was injured due to bombing during second world war, Uttam Kumar while treating her, showed the letter written by Chabi Biswas where he realized that the way she sacrificed her life it was possible only from a noble soul and the criteria of good or bad lied in human soul, not religion, or caste, or creed, which were created by human being.

The astounding personality of Chabi Biswas converted the romantic film into a cine-classic which has been displayed a number of times in Film Institute in Pune, where Ajoy Kar trained young directors during the 70s, in the art of film making. It was one of the greatest blockbusters and remains one of the greatest Bengali films ever made by any director.

Whenever Chabi Biswas played any memorable character, the character was memorized by the audience for generations. It happened in Ajoy Kar’s film Suno Boro Nari.

Chabi Biswas played the role of an eminent barrister in the film with the name of Charu Babu of the firm titled “Udashin”. He was the father of Supriya Choudhury, and asked Uttam Kumar to reach her to Giridih where she was engaged with Dipak Mukherjee, a rich industrialist.

Supriya Choudhury communicated with Uttam Kumar during the train journey from Patna to Giridih, a number of times and entered into an affair with him. Due to that relationship the marriage got hauled up and Chabi Biswas wanted Uttam Kumar to leave Giridih. He wrote a letter and disclosed his identity of a Professor of Literature who had left Kolkata and settled in Giridih due to a past relationship which could not mature into marriage. Uttam Kumar boarded a train to leave Giridih when Supriya Choudhury entered the train after abandoning all her ties with her family. But the aristocracy of Chabi Biswas was reflected all along the film. The film was based on the literature of Subodh Ghosh and the classic literature was transformed into a classic film.

The unfortunate demise of Chabi Biswas in a road accident in 1962, ended the dream combination of Chabi Biswas with Ajoy Kar, and the viewers could not see him in classic films in the following period like Sat Pake Bandha, Dutta, etc. The films should be preserved and shown in the film and television institutes of the country.

Suchitra Sen has not lost her appeal over the years.

Suchitra Sen has not lost her appeal over the years.

Suchitra Sen had retired from films in 1978 and by this period of time may have lost her popularity for not being in celluloid for over thirty years. But in reality her image became more dignified due to her retirement from films at the right time. She is one of the rare bollywood legends who had acted in only 60 films in her career over thirty years including the legendary bollywood films.

She acted in the legendary role of Parvati in Bimal Roy’s Devdas. It was a landmark film in Indian film history with Dilip Kumar, Motilal and Vaijayantimala doing justice to the classic literature of Sarat Chandra Chatterji. Her docile performance attracted attention of class and mass. Her performance in the film Mamta, the hindi adaptation of Bengali film Mamta had stormed bollywood in the 60s.


She was sublime in the double role of both the mother and daughter. The mother became a tawaif and shed her blood to make her daughter a barrister and killed her husband who wanted to destroy the career of the daughter. Suchitra Sen conducted the famous trial with Ashok Kumar where she pleaded innocence of her mother who was compelled to kill her husband due to grave provocation. Legendary actresses of bollywood including Meena Kumari, Wahida Rehman would have felt proud to perform in majestic role like Mamta the way Suchitra Sen had done.

She was brilliant in the film Aandhi, where her political career was in turmoil and and she shared her grief with her husband played by Sanjeev Kumar who was equally brilliant in Gulzar’s epic film. The film was banned for short period as the story resembled Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s frustration during the period of emergency during the mid-70s. Suchitra Sen’s lips in Lata’s songs “tere bina zindagi me shikwa”, “is mor se jate hai”, “tum agaye ho” composed by RD Burman stills haunts different sections of viewers.


With her success in bollywood films including Champakali with Bharat Bhushan, Bombai Ka Babu with Dev Anand, Suchitra Sen became the uncrowned queen of Bengali films where her combination with Uttam Kumar is considered the most immortal romantic pair of the decade. Her exhibition of powerful personality in films like Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Kamal Lata, Grihadaho along with Uttam Kumar makes the viewers nostalgic about the romantic face of Bengali films in the 50s and 60s. Her films should be restored for the next generation as they are invaluable assets of the country.