Fans and fraternity celebrate Uttam Kumar's 89th birthday

New heroes came and after a period of poor production values films got slicker following Bollywood and the southern industry, but even now nothing beats the aura of Uttam Kumar.

 

His screen presence in films of mostly black and white era, paired opposite late screen goddess Suchitra Sen, still keep audiences glued to the idiot box where the later generations caught up with his movie magic. 

 

Admirers of Uttam Kumar have all come together to celebrate this legendary actors 89th birth anniversary, here on Thursday.

Paying her tribute, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee wrote on Twitter: “'হৃদয়ের লিপিকাতে কে জানি লিখেছে এক কাব্য [from a song of his film meaning someone has scripted a book in the heart]...' Remembering Mahanayak Uttam Kumar on his 90th birthday.”

Born as Arun Kumar Chatterjee on September 3, 1926 in Kolkata, Uttam debuted in Nitin Bose’s Dristidan, way back in 1948.

The movie was a moderate success. Slowly other movies followed and with it big hits, classics by the standards of Bengali Cinema.

Four decades and 212 films later he emerged as the undisputed king of Tollywood and was always referred to as Mahanayak (super hero).

Uttam ruled the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and to testify the fact, Governor of Tripura, Tathagata Roy wrote on Twitter: “For Bengali Cinema aficionados: today is Uttam Kumar's 90th birthday. There never was, never will be such a romantic hero on Bengali screen.”

In his long and illustrious career, he formed stable partnerships with many. The greatest perhaps is the Uttam-Suchitra pair that ruled hearts and became a symbol for romance. He also acted in several films with his lady love Supriya Devi. 

His other great partnership was with legendary singer Manna Dey. Dey churned out songs which he managed to lip-sync with utter perfection, providing a rich experience to the viewers.

Uttam Kumar is the recipient of several awards including the prestigious National Film Awards, the Filmfare Award and BFJA Awards.

A metro station, ‘Mahanayak Uttam Kumar’ is named after him, befitting the Tollygunge area where the film studios are located.

Prosenjit Chatterjee, who emerged as the next superstar of Bengali cinema in post-Uttam Kumar era, speaking on the omnipresence of Uttam Kumar  wrote, “Happy Birthday to the legend. There is only one Mahanayak in Tollywood and no one can ever replace you Uttam Jethu. [Uttam uncle as he used to call him]"