Legendary music director Robin Chatterjee mahashoy gave first break to singer Arati Mukherjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given first break by music director Robin Chatterjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given first break by music director Robin Chatterjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given first break by Composer Robin Chatterjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Arati Mukherjee said in interview before ABP that Robin Chatterjee gave her first break.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Music director Robin Chatterjee gave first break to Arati Mukherjee

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Agradoot and bengali films.

Agradoot and bengali films.

Agradoot, group of directors were formed in 1960 by director Bibhuti Laha, sound recordist Jatin Dutta, Laboratory specialist Sailen Ghoshal, script writer Nitai Bhattacharya and producer Bimal Ghosh. They came, saw and conquered. Most of the films directed by Agradoot were produced by MP Productions.

In 1951, they made the film Sahajatri with Uttam Kumar and Bharati Debi. Music was composed by Robin Chatterji. The bond of Agradoot with Uttam Kumar just grew and grew. Very significantly Agradoot gave the maximum number of super hit Bengali films with the pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. If Ajoy Kar had directed the biggest blockbuster of the century namely Harano Sur and Saptapadi, Agradoot gave series of hit films with the eternal pair Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The list included Agniparikkha in 1954, Sabar Upare in 1955, Pathe Holo Deri in 1957, Surjo Toron in 1958, Bipasha in 1962. In Agradoot’s film composer Robin Chatterjee created the combination of singer Sandhya Mukherjee with Suchitra Sen. The rest was history. The legendary songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee for Suchitra Sen in Agradoot’s films included “ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara” in film Sabar Upare, “tumi na hoi rohite kache”, “e shudhu ganer din”, “ei saanjh ghera logon aaj” in Pathe Holo Deri, “klantir poth bujhiba furabe mor” in Bipasha, to name a few.

Uttam Kumar acted in other films of Agradoot namely Anupama in 1954 opposite Sabitri Chatterjee, Nayika Sangbad in 1967 opposite Anjana Bhowmick, Choddobeshi in 1971 opposite Madhabi Mukherjee, to name a few. At the same time Agradoot made realistic films which became award winning Bengali films. One of the examples included the film Lalu Bhulu in 1958. The film was related to two boys one being blind and the other being handicapped. Their story mesmerized the audience. The music composed by Robin Chatterjee in that film was excellent and Manobendra Mukherjee’s songs were classical in nature including “jar hiya akasher neel nilimay”, “sorjo tomar prothom toron kholo”, “dukher pathe naamly Jodi”, “dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “ei pranjharona jaaglo”, to name a few. The film was remade in hindi with the title Dosti which also became super hit.

Agradoot was sublime in the film Babla in 1951, Badsha with Kali Banerjee and Khokababur Protyaborton with Uttam Kumar. Agradoot showed the risk of casting Uttam Kumar in the role of a servant in the film Khokababur Protyaborton and murderer in the film Kuhak. Uttam Kumar’s Uttarayan, Agnisangaskar are the other masterpieces of director Agradoot.

One article is too small to highlight the achievements of Agradoot. They had shaped the destiny of Bengali celluloid during 1950s and 1960s. Their films should be preserved and restored.

Composer Robin Chatterjee had huge contribution in the films of Uttam Kumar.

Superstar Uttam Kumar was the uncrowned monarch of Bengali films during the golden age, that is the 1950s and 1960s. Robin Chatterjee was a genius composer and composed many romantic tunes during that decade. In Uttam Kumar’s film Sabar Upare, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “ghum ghum chand jhiki miki tara” picturized on Suchitra Sen became super hit. Even Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s song “kataron aghate chino paye rakta jhare” became hit. In Uttam Kumar’s film Sagarika released in 1956, Sandhya Mukherjee’s songs were as successful Shyamal Mitra’s song “amar sapne dekha rajkanya thake”. Robin Chatterjee gave excellent tune to Alpana Banerjee in the film titled “hridoy amar shundoro taba pay”. The film became super hit. In Uttam Kumar’s film Pathe Holo Deri, Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “tumi na hoy rohite kache”, “ei shanj-ghera logone aaj” and “e shudu ganer din” became very successful. The romantic tunes took the audience to a different world. The magic combination of Robin Chatterjee Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen continued in the film Shilpi. Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s song “bondhu re” had folk tune embedded in it. Robin Chatterjee gave beautiful tune “sunaha baranari” to Shyamal Mitra in Uttam Kumar’s film Suno Bara Nari. In Uttam Kumar’s film Bipasha, Robin Chatterjee gave excellent tunes to Sandhya Mukherjee in the song “klantir poth bujhiba phuralo mor”, “ami sapne tomay dekhechi”. Robin Chatterjee composed tunes in Uttam Kumar’s other films like Momer Alo where Subir Sen sang notable songs, Shaharer Itikatha, etc., and all these films did great business due to the excellent music composed by Robin Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee gave excellent tunes in Uttam Kumar’s film Kamallata. Shyamal Mitra and Sandhya Mukherjee’s song “o mon kokhon shuru kokhon je shesh ke jane” was appreciated by the religious-minded audience. In 1969 Robin Chatterjee died and the great combination with both Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen ended. The films and the songs of Robin Chatterjee Uttam Kumar combination should be restored.

Agradoot had great contribution in shaping bengali films during golden age with Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen.

Agradoot had great contribution in shaping bengali films during golden age with Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen.

Agradoot, group of directors were formed in 1946 by director Bibhuti Laha, sound recordist Jatin Dutta, Laboratory specialist Sailen Ghoshal, script writer Nitai Bhattacharya and producer Bimal Ghosh. They came, saw and conquered. Most of the films directed by Agradoot were produced by MP Productions. Agradoot competed against other eminent commercial directors of the 50s, including Sukumar Dasgupta, Nirmal Dey, Niren Lahiri, Chitto Basu, Haridas Bhattacharya and others.

In 1951, they made the film Sahajatri with Uttam Kumar and Bharati Debi. Music was composed by Robin Chatterji. The bond of Agradoot with Uttam Kumar just grew and grew. Very significantly Agradoot gave the maximum number of super hit Bengali films with the pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. If Ajoy Kar had directed the biggest blockbuster of the century namely Harano Sur and Saptapadi, Agradoot gave series of hit films with the eternal pair Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The way Bengali film industry blossomed in the 50s, it was never reciprocated in the next 30s, due to the brilliance of the commercial directors, use of immortal literature of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Tarashankar Banerjee, Samaresh Bose, etc., excellent music composed by Robin Chatterjee, Anupam Ghatak, Kalipada Sen, Pabitra Chatterjee, strong performances of Uttam Kumar Suchitra Sen, and the backup given by versatile character artists like Chabi Biswas, Nitish Mukherjee, Dhiraj Bhattacharya, Malina Debi, Chandrabati Debi, Bhanu Banerjee, Tulsi Chakraborty and others. The list included Agniparikkha in 1954, Sabar Upare in 1955, Pathe Holo Deri in 1957, Surjo Toron in 1958, Bipasha in 1962. In Agradoot’s film composer Robin Chatterjee created the combination of singer Sandhya Mukherjee with Suchitra Sen. The rest was history. The legendary songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee for Suchitra Sen in Agradoot’s films included “ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara” in film Sabar Upare, “tumi na hoi rohite kache”, “e shudhu ganer din”, “ei saanjh ghera logon aaj” in Pathe Holo Deri, “klantir poth bujhiba furabe mor” in Bipasha, to name a few.

Uttam Kumar acted in other films of Agradoot namely Anupama in 1954 opposite Sabitri Chatterjee, Nayika Sangbad in 1967 opposite Anjana Bhowmick, Choddobeshi in 1971 opposite Madhabi Mukherjee, to name a few. At the same time Agradoot made realistic films which became award winning Bengali films. One of the examples included the film Lalu Bhulu in 1958. The film was related to two boys one being blind and the other being handicapped. Their story mesmerized the audience. The music composed by Robin Chatterjee in that film was excellent and Manobendra Mukherjee’s songs were classical in nature including “jar hiya akasher neel nilimay”, “sorjo tomar prothom toron kholo”, “dukher pathe naamly Jodi”, “dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “ei pranjharona jaaglo”, to name a few. The film was remade in hindi with the title Dosti which also became super hit.

Agradoot was sublime in the film Babla in 1951, Badsha with Kali Banerjee and Khokababur Protyaborton with Uttam Kumar. Agradoot showed the risk of casting Uttam Kumar in the role of a servant in the film Khokababur Protyaborton and murderer in the film Kuhak. Uttam Kumar’s Uttarayan, Agnisangaskar are the other masterpieces of director Agradoot.

One article is too small to highlight the achievements of Agradoot. They had shaped the destiny of Bengali celluloid during 1950s and 1960s. Their films should be preserved and restored.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.

Aroti Mukherjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.


Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011.

Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc.

In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music.


Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee.

Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Agradoot and bengali films.

Agradoot and bengali films.

Agradoot, group of directors were formed in 1946 by director Bibhuti Laha, sound recordist Jatin Dutta, Laboratory specialist Sailen Ghoshal, script writer Nitai Bhattacharya and producer Bimal Ghosh. They came, saw and conquered. Most of the films directed by Agradoot were produced by MP Productions.

In 1951, they made the film Sahajatri with Uttam Kumar and Bharati Debi. Music was composed by Robin Chatterji. The bond of Agradoot with Uttam Kumar just grew and grew. Very significantly Agradoot gave the maximum number of super hit Bengali films with the pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. If Ajoy Kar had directed the biggest blockbuster of the century namely Harano Sur and Saptapadi, Agradoot gave series of hit films with the eternal pair Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The list included Agniparikkha in 1954, Sabar Upare in 1955, Pathe Holo Deri in 1957, Surjo Toron in 1958, Bipasha in 1962. In Agradoot’s film composer Robin Chatterjee created the combination of singer Sandhya Mukherjee with Suchitra Sen. The rest was history. The legendary songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee for Suchitra Sen in Agradoot’s films included “ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara” in film Sabar Upare, “tumi na hoi rohite kache”, “e shudhu ganer din”, “ei saanjh ghera logon aaj” in Pathe Holo Deri, “klantir poth bujhiba furabe mor” in Bipasha, to name a few.

Uttam Kumar acted in other films of Agradoot namely Anupama in 1954 opposite Sabitri Chatterjee, Nayika Sangbad in 1967 opposite Anjana Bhowmick, Choddobeshi in 1971 opposite Madhabi Mukherjee, to name a few. At the same time Agradoot made realistic films which became award winning Bengali films. One of the examples included the film Lalu Bhulu in 1958. The film was related to two boys one being blind and the other being handicapped. Their story mesmerized the audience. The music composed by Robin Chatterjee in that film was excellent and Manobendra Mukherjee’s songs were classical in nature including “jar hiya akasher neel nilimay”, “sorjo tomar prothom toron kholo”, “dukher pathe naamly Jodi”, “dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “ei pranjharona jaaglo”, to name a few. The film was remade in hindi with the title Dosti which also became super hit.

Agradoot was sublime in the film Babla in 1951, Badsha with Kali Banerjee and Khokababur Protyaborton with Uttam Kumar. Agradoot showed the risk of casting Uttam Kumar in the role of a servant in the film Khokababur Protyaborton and murderer in the film Kuhak. Uttam Kumar’s Uttarayan, Agnisangaskar are the other masterpieces of director Agradoot.

One article is too small to highlight the achievements of Agradoot. They had shaped the destiny of Bengali celluloid during 1950s and 1960s. Their films should be preserved and restored.

Uttam Kumar was sublime in Saheb Bibi Golam.

Uttam Kumar was sublime in Saheb Bibi Golam.

24th July ever year is remembered for the sad demise of legendary mahanayak of Bengal, namely Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar died in 1980 due to a massive heart attack. He had been sublime in the film Saheb Bibi Golam.

Saheb Bibi Golam is remembered for the classic literature of eminent Bengali writer Bimal Mitra. The director Karthik Chatterjee had the monumental task of covering the major portions of the epic literature in a three hours film. In the film Uttam Kumar played the character of Bhutnath in the film. He stayed in the house of Pahari Sanyal when he had to come to Kolkata during the colonial period. Interestingly Pahari Sanyal was a Brahmo, the religion introduced by reformer Raja Rammohan Roy. His daughter Anubha Gupta was married to Uttam Kumar at an early age which she came to know at the end of the film

Uttam Kumar was an observer in the film who saw the decline of the famous Choudhury family, one of the wealthy zamindars other than the Laha family, the Dutta family, the Deb family and Mallick family. Chabi Biswas played the role of the second brother of famous Choudhury family. Nitish Mukherjee was the youngest brother. He was married to Sumitra Debi. She asked Uttam Kumar to buy different things to satisfy her husband, Nitish Mukherjee who was inclined to go to Janbazar where Baijees did mujra.

Uttam Kumar later got the job of Overseer and saw the bangles of Sumitra Debi in the walls of Choudhury Bari, meaning that she was killed by the zaminders and the body buried in the walls of the house. The zamindary declined although Chabi Biswas entered into joint collaboration with The British East India Company in respect of mines existing in Bengal and Bihar. The small characters played in the role were excellent including gharibabu played by Jahar Ganguly, hunkobabu played by Bhanu Banerjee. Uttam Kumar kept his mark amongst the other notable actors in the film including Haridhan, Kanu Banerjee, Shyam Laha and others. Robin Chatterji composed the music of the film and gave landmark songs to Sandhya Mukherjee including “dheere bandhu dheere”.

The film ended up being a blockbuster in 1956, and noted actor, director Guru Dutt was inspired to make a hindi film Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam in 1962. Guru Dutt played the role of Uttam Kumar, Wahida Rehman played the role of Anubha Gupta and Meena Kumari played the role of Sumitra Debi. Uttam Kumar’s films contributed a lot during the 50s and 60s in inspiring bollywood directors making hindi versions of Uttam Kumar’s films.

The film Saheb Bibi Golam, a masterpiece in itself should be preserved and restored.