When I was in school I slowly became aware of the appeal of Uttam Kumar (September 3, 1926 - July 24, 1980), observing the ecstasy of the young and older ladies in my family. Their eyes used to go dreamy, their heartbeats wayward and their voices husky at the drop of his name. Not having attained the age yet when romanticism overpowers all other senses, I used to wonder why they would do such a thing for a man. I watched in amazement how the ecstasy of the ladies progressed into veritable frenzy as the day of the release of another Uttam Kumar film (preferably Uttam-Suchitra) drew nearer. They would count the days; they would read everything about the new movie in the newspapers and weeklies (Cinema Jogoth, Ultorath, Chitrali) with unflinching devotion. And then they would spend hours discussing those with friends, plan ahead, collect advance tickets, decide who would come along this time and which lone male member would accompany them. Yes, that used to be a festivity of sorts, going to watch an Uttam movie. Nishat, Mukul, Rupmahal, Nagar Mahal, Shabistan, Lion and Gulistan were the cinema halls in Dhaka that regularly screened Indian Bangla films of the pre-65 era. Interestingly, Uttam Kumar was not noticed in films like Ora Thakey Odharey or Sharey Chuattur, at least not on this side of the barbed wire. But then came Moroner Parey and everything began to change. The spell was cast. Bengal had found its hero, the protagonist, the super-hero-in-the-making. After that film there was no turning back for Uttam. Soon, such mega-hit movies like Shap Mochon, Harano Sur, Shilpi, Shobar Uporey, Tasher Ghor, Prithibi Amarey Chaye, Shohorer Itikotha, Basu Paribar, Chapadangar Bou, Agnipariksha, Sagarika, Grihaprabesh, Shyamoli, Putrabadhu, Pathey Holo Deri, Manmoyee Girls School and Mayamriga were released in the then East Pakistan. Each of these movies drew large crowds to every show. In all these movies, different heroines acted with him but the films ran for months, only because of the hero, the one and only Uttam Kumar. He had that charisma and acting ability to carry a movie through the box office all by himself.Surprisingly, young men were equally affected by the charm of Uttam Kumar like the women of Bengal in those days. I used to watch my uncles and their friends trying with all their might to copy his hair style, clothes, smile and so on, but all in vain. No matter how many clones or copycats emerged, none could come close to Uttam Kumar. By the late 1950s, Uttam's ability to give stunning performance was well recognised and as a result offers from producers flooded his office. But he had to decline many good offers due schedule problems. His performance in some of the movies we were lucky enough to see in cinema halls in Dhaka or in some quiet district town is still fresh in our minds. Harano Sur is one of the great romantic movies where Uttam had to portray a difficult role. In the movie the protagonist loses his memory in an accident, his identity is wiped off his mind and he finds himself in a new surrounding. He falls in love with the girl, a junior doctor, who helps him recover his partial memory, and stays back to recuperate in her house far away from Calcutta. But one day, he hurts his head in another accident and forgets his immediate past and all about the girl who has been his constant companion for the last few months. Now, gradually the memory of his original identity comes back and he remembers his mother and close kin in Calcutta. Without saying anything to the girl, he goes back to Calcutta to be with his family. The girl who gives up everything for his cure is left behind to suffer in solitude. But, somehow, she finds a job in his house and tries her best to make him remember who she is. Melodramatic? Why not? After all, cinema is all about drama and melodrama. But this has to be said that Uttam came out with flying colours in depicting the emotions of a disturbed character as the script demanded. In all the scenes where he struggles with himself trying to remember his past, he gives a refreshingly measured performance. There was no over-acting, no screaming, no grimacing, no crying, no long and loud dialogue so typical of Bengali cinema of the era. In the scene where Suchitra Sen comes to live in his residence as the governess of Uttam's little niece and plays the tune of the song: “Tumi jey amaar ogo tumi jey amaar...” on the piano, Uttam gave a rip-roaring performance. The tune haunts him…yet he cannot remember anything and gets perturbed...the piano goes on and at one point Uttam cannot take it anymore as memories of some places…some people…begin to come back in bits and pieces. He quickly leaves the room. One may also remember Sagarika and the song...”Amar shopney dekha rajkonya thakey..." or how about “Jhor uthechey baul batash ajkey holo shathi..." in the film Shapmochon?Uttam Kumar, in his lifetime, became an icon of Bengali cinema. He truly became larger than life and Bengali cinema has not seen the likes of him till now. Towards the end of his life he gave another brilliant performance in the film Amanush, both in its Bangla and Hindi versions. Though all his previous Hindi movies were great flops, he proved his mettle in Amanush. He had stalwarts like Sharmila Tagore, Anil Mukherjee and Utpal Dutt to support him as co-performers. The Hindi version was well accepted by the crowd in the Northern parts of India. Early lifeUttam Kumar was born in Kolkata in his ancestral house in Girish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipore. After studying at South Suburban School (Main), he went for higher studies in Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration, an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta system. However, he couldn't complete his studies as he started working at the Kolkata Port as a clerk. During this period, he acted for amateur theater groups.Film debutUttam's first released film was Drishtidan directed by Nitin Bose, though he worked in an earlier unreleased film called Mayador/. He came into prominence with the film Basu Paribar and his breakthrough film was Sharey Chuattur with a young actress called Suchitra Sen. This romantic comedy launched the career of the greatest romantic duo to grace the Bangla film industry.
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