Uttam Kumar's influence on Bollywood films.

Uttam Kumar’s influence on Bollywood films.

Uttam Kumar, the all time legend of Bengali silver screen who is honoured with the title of “mahanayak” meaning megastar, was one of the most colourful personalities who not only dominated Bengali cinema but had tremendous influence on classical films created in the bollywood. Born in 1926, Arun Kumar Chatterji, better known as Uttam Kumar, made his debue in the Bengali film Dristidan in 1948. Within few years who got the recognition of the carefree hero who could portray the middle class Bengali image according to the characters portrayed by emiment novelists. Satyajit ray, the greatest director, ever to grace Indian Celluloid, said Uttam Kumar, was the only matinee idol, whom a wife wants to have as a husband, a mother wants to have as a son, a sister wants to have as a brother and a daughter wants to have as a father.



Not only did some his films have celebrated golden jubilee, films like Harano Sur, 1957, Saptapadi, 1961, Suno Baranari, 1960, Shankhabela, 1966, Nayak, 1966, Antony Firingi, 1967, Chowrangee, 1968, etc. were the most creative films that were categorised as black and white classics during the golden age of Bengali cinema. He formed the most legendary romantic pair ever to appear on Celluloid with noted actress Suchitra Sen with whom Uttam Kumar acted in 30 films.

Very significantly Uttam Kumar’s films were taken up as base for creating classic films in bollywood at different points of time. The Bengali film Saheb Bibi Golum made in 1955, where Uttam Kumar played the role of Bhutnath was remade in hindi as Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam in 1962, where Guru Dutt played the role of Bhutnath. He was an observer who watched the aristocracy maintained in Kolkata from mid 18th century to early 19th century. The film depicted the British Raj from the capital, Kolkata, the society existing at that time, Hinduism under the tenets of Swami Vivekanda, the Brahmo Samaj and domination of women during that age.

Uttam Kumar’s legendary film Sabar Opore, released in 1955, involved a crime thriller, where his father Proshanto Chatterji, played by Chabi Biswas was wrongly prosecuted for murder of a lady, and Uttam Kumar had to reopen the case after 12 years and proved before the Court of the law, that the actual murderer was the public prosecutor played by Nitish Mukherjee. Chabi Biswas bewildered the audience after spelling out before the judge that his youth was destroyed by the wrong sentence and asked them to return his 12 years back the period of time he languished in the solitary jail. The same film was remade in hindi under the title of Kala Pani in 1958, where Dev Anand played the role of Uttam Kumar.



Uttam Kumar’s super hit film Agni Parikha, released in 1955, opposite Suchitra Sen, was remade in hindi under the title Choti Si Mulakat in 1967, where Uttam Kumar acted in the hindi version opposite Vaijayantimala. It was related to a couple who were married to each other when they were infants, then the marriage being disowned by a section of the society and the husband and wife falls in love once again when they become matured. Shankar Jaikishan’s composition of music and Rafi’s songs were successful, including songs like “Choti si mulakat me pyar ban gayi.”

Uttam Kumar’s successful film Jivan Mrityu, 1967, where he was wrongly charged in a cheating case by his fellow bank collegues and he took revenge against all of them, was remade in hindi under the title Jeevan Mrityu, where Dharmender played his character. He was travelling in a train and a person fell down from the running train and died. The media wrongly stated that Uttam Kumar had died. He took the make up of a sikh and destroyed the business of all his colleagues. Uttam Kumar's classic film "Lal Pathor" in 1963 based on the historical backgruond of a nawab who marries twice and kills his wives is made in hindi with the title "Lal Patthar", where Raj Kumar played the role of Uttam Kumar. It was shot at Fatehpur Sikri and both the films depicted the royal style of living exhibited by the Feudal lords at that period of time.

Uttam Kumar’s comedy film Bhranti Bilas, 1963, where he had a double role and played the role of the twin brothers under the translated version of Shakespearean play titled The Comedy of Errors, was remade in hindi by Gulzar under the title Angur. There was double role of both the Zamindar played by Uttam Kumar and the servant played by Bhanu Banerjee. In the hindi version Uttam Kumar’s role was played by Sanjeev Kumar and Bhanu’s role was played by Deven Verma. It showed the immense comedy skills possed by Uttam Kumar, who maintained both the personality and sense of humour in the role displayed in the film.

Uttam Kumar’s comedy film Choddobeshi, in 1971, where he depicted a botanist who disguised himself as a driver to irritate his wife’s sister and her husband, was remade in hindi under the title Chupke Chupke, in 1975, by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, where Dharmender played the role of the Botanist. Uttam Kumar’s film Ami Se O Sakha, 1975, where he played the role of a friend of a doctor and loves the same woman whom the doctor loves, is remade in hindi under the title Bemisal, where Amitabh Bacchan played the role of Uttam Kumar. He sacrificed the lady for his friend.

Uttam Kumar’s film Amanush, in 1974, where he depicted the story of fishing community who was wrongly rebuked by the local police officer, was remade in hindi under the same title Amanush by noted Director Shakti Shamanta in 1975. The other film where Uttam kumar acted both in the Bengali version and the hindi version include Anand Ashram. In both these films, Sharmila tagore acted opposite Uttam Kumar. Here the wife of the doctor dies, while giving birth to the child. Uttam Kumar displayed the pathos of the husband after the demise of his wife with same level of excellence which Dilip Kumar used to depict in tragic roles.

The list of films of Uttam Kumar, which influenced bollywood can go on. Very significantly Uttam Kumar had given lips for songs sung by different singers, including Hemant Kumar, Shaymal Mitra, Manna Dey, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, etc. Even Bhupinder Singh had sung songs for Uttam Kumar titled “zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the” and “zindagi, zindagi, o mere ghar ana zindagi” in the film Dooriyan, 1980. It is a pity that as Uttam Kumar had acted in around 205 films within a span of 35 years, he did not get the time to act in major bollywood films. An archive of Uttam Kumar’s works should be created which can depict the rich subject matter presented in his films which had provided inspiration to directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shakti Shamanta, Gulzar, to reciprocate the stories in bollywood films.

Manna Dey- A versatile Genius

Manna Dey: The genius of Hindi playback and Bengali modern songs.

Manna Dey is probably one of the most talented singers who had glorified the golden age of Bollywood cinema. Born on May 1st, 1919, Probodh Chandra Dey, better known as Manna Dey, studied in Scottish Church College, in Kolkata, where Swami Vivekananda and other great men studied at a point of time. Although his father was a Chartered Accountant, his uncle K.C. Dey’s influence had turned his attention towards music and he completed his classical talim from Ustad Aman Ali Khan. His uncle, K.C. Dey also acted in famous theatre in Kolkata during the period when Natyacharya Sisir Bhaduri’s classic plays Chanakya, Alamgir, Shahjahan, mesmerised the Bengali audience.

Manna Dey went to Bombay with his uncle KC Dey and also worked as assistant of SD Burman. His song “upar gagan bishal” in the film Mashal, stationed him permanently among other singers during the golden age. He stormed into the bollywood arena with successful songs in Raj Kapoor’s Shri 420, namely “mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke”, “pyar hua ikrar hua hai” and “dil ka hal sune dilwala” and caught the attention of Shankar Jaikishan, the famous musical duo. His classical background was fully exploited in the film Basant Bahar, 1957, where Shankar Jaikishan’s composition “sur na saje kya gayun mai” and his contest with Bhim Sen Joshi was well acclaimed by music lovers.



Manna Dey got the opportunity of singing almost all the songs of Raj Kapoor’s Chori Chori, 1956, where songs like “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “aja sanam madhur chadni me hum” brought the first filmfare award for Shankar Jaikishan. Within a short time Manna Dey got the recognition of singing challenging songs in the film industry including qawallis, Hindustani classical, bhajan’s, etc. Madanmohan’s composition “kaun aya mere man ke dware” in the film Dekh Kabira Roya, shows his immense classical control.

Roshan, exploited the range of Manna Dey in Raj Kapoor’s film Dil hi to hai, where his song “laga chunari me daag chupayun kaise” brought his supreme command over sargam, taal, tempo, etc. His qawalli in Barsaat ki Raat, in 1960, composed by Roshan, and sung along with Mohammad Rafi, showed the capability of transforming the grammer of these songs into effortless, flawless pursuits which were simplified for the common audiences.

In the mean time, Manna Dey brought out his supreme performance in Bengali films during the golden age, and his songs “ogo tomar shesh bicharer asay” in the film Dak Harkora, 1958, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, and “uthali pathali amar buk” in the film Ganga, 1960, composed by Salil Chowdhury flabbergasted the listeners, people wondered how could Manna Dey, coming from complete urbanised background provide perfect intonation for folk songs including bayul and bhatiyali.

Manna Dey’s songs “pucho na kaise maine rain bitayi” in the film Meri surat Teri Ankhen, composed by SD Burman, “ay mere pyare watan” in the film Kabuliwala, composed by Salil Chowdhury, “kasme wade pyar wafa sab” in the film Upkar composed by Kalyanji Anandji, are all masterpieces, some having patriotic feeling, others having pure classical raga embedded in them. Salil Chowdhury even exploited the chorus oriented command of Manna Dey in the song “zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai” in the film Anand, 1970. Other than Mohammad Rafi, no other playback singer could show the versatility and elegance of singing classical, thumris, qawallis, rock and roll, etc., as displayed by Manna Dey.



From mid-sixties, Manna Dey, played the second innings of his musical career by lending his voice for the superstar of Bengali films Uttamkumar in Shonkhobela, 1966. His songs “ami agantuk ami barta dilam” and “dekechi ke age” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta, became super duper hits, and Manna Dey became the most legendary singer of bengali modern songs of all times. His songs in Uttamkumar’s films Antony Firingi, 1967, “ami je jalsaghare,” “ami jamini tumi sashi he”, Nishi Poddo, 1970, “ora je ja bole boluk”, Stri, 1971, “hajar takar jhar batita”, “ose jatai kalo hok”, Sanyasi Raja, 1975, “shashikanto tumi dekhchi”, “bhalobashar agun jalao”, transformed Bengali film music into an invaluable khazana (tressure) which contained Manna Dey’s rock and roll effect, to tappas, to kajris, to other Hindustani raga oriented performances. Manna Dey also had the supreme calibre of imitating a drunkard and the way he sung “ei duniyay bhai sabi hoy sab satti” for legendary actor Chabi Biswas, in Raj Kapoor’s Bengali film Ekdin Ratre, 1955, which was remade in hindi under the title Jagte Raho, 1956, one wonders that he had synchronised his singing capabilities with acting qualities. At the same time his Bengali adhunik (modern) songs most of which were composed by himself like “kotodure aaj niye jabe bolo”, 1953, “hay hay go raat jay go” “ami aaj akasher moto akela” show the romantic appeal of his voice where pathos and classical touch complimented each other.

Manna Dey received filmfare award for best singer in 1972 for the film Mera Naam Joker, national award for singing in Nishi Padda, 1970, a number of Bengal Film Journalist Association Awards (BFJA), Padmashri and Padmabhushan. Besides his versatile talent was exhibited while he did sing songs in regional languages like marathi, malayali, gujrathi, etc. Lata Mangeshkar in her speech in DD1 had said, Manna Dey’s marathi intonation is even better than Marathi Brahmins. No award is sufficient for acknowledging the superlative skills of Manna Dey. An archive should be created where all the songs of Manna Dey in different languages should be preserved and restored, and whenever people here “o mere zohr zabi” or “ek chatun nar” or “yari hai iman mera”, the nostalgia of qawallis, Hindustani ragas and grammatical presentation of ustadi gharana will reflect in their minds.

Influence of Bengali Classic Literature on Bollywood Films

Influence of Bengali Classic Literature in Bollywood films.

Bengal in the eighteenth and nineteenth century had produced intellectuals of different dimensions in different fields including academics, politics, music, literature, social science, etc. Social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vidhyasagar brought social awakening through the prohibition of evil practices like Sati and bringing modern legislations with the help of the British Government in the colonial era like Widow Remarriage Act. In the field of religion Swami Vivekananda redefined Hinduism in his Chicago Conference in USA and provided the deliberations of Sri Ramakrisha in condemning materialist philosophy. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the most dynamic personalities of the freedom struggle movement of India.



Literature is a field where the immortal works of the Bengali Legendary thinkers have influenced the silver screen the most which even has significance after around 50 years of creation of the classic works. Bankim Chandra Chatterji was given the title of Sahitya Samrat (the Monarch of literature) who nurtured Bengali language from its Sanskrit-oriented origin in almost the same manner in which mythologically Lord Mahadeva brought river Ganges from his knotted hair (jata) and created classic novels like Kapalkundala, Anandamath, Devichowdhurani, etc. His song Vandemataram had instilled patriotism and respect for the motherland and was the guiding mantra in India’s freedom movement which became the national song of the country after India got independence. His novel “Anandamath” was picturised as Bollywood film in 1950 with Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Prithviraj Kapoor playing significant roles.

Bimal Mitra’s epic literature Saheb Bibi Gulam, directed by Karthik Chatterji became a historically eminent work depicting the Zamindari existing in Kolkata during Colonial rule. Chabi Biswas was the second brother, showed the aristocracy, grantieur with which the feudal lords ruled the state. Uttamkumar was the observer of the events as Bhutnath.[1] Guru Dutt played the same role in the hindi film Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam, 1962, where Meena Kumari played the chotibahu in her own style.

Rabindranath Tagore, the winner of Nobel Prize in literature for Gitanjali, in 1913 had galvanised the firmament of creativity with short stories, poetry, prose, plays, songs and had influenced both Bengali and Hindi films with his revolutionary thinking. His story Kabuliwala was directed by Tapan Sinha in 1957, with Chabi Biswas, the greatest actor of Bengali Silver Screen giving immortal performance of an Afghan father who left his country, came to Kolkata to sell his produce of mewa, pesta and loving a small Bengali girl “mini” who brought him memories of his own daughter back in the country.[2] Tapan Sinha’s films Khudito Pashan, Atithi, 1965, Satyajit Ray’s cineclassic, Teen Kanya, 1961, Gharebaire, 1984, are based on the immortal prices of work of Tagore.

Bimal Roy, the winner of a number of Filmfare awards for best direction in bollywood films made Kabuliwala with Balraj Sahani in 1961. Although the film could not create the same impact as the Bengali film Kabuliwala, yet the classic literature was well appreciated by the Indian masses. Previously Salil Chowdhury’s Do Beegha Zameen, in 1953 had kept its mark as a Bollywood film having strong storybase and powerful direction.

Sarat Chandra Chatterji, titled Katha Sahitwik, influenced Bollywood films the most as his language was understandable to the people of the grass root level and his observation on social, economic issues of rural Bengal had tremendous impact on the readers and filmlovers. His story Devdas picturised by Bimal Roy stormed the silver screen in 1955, providing Dilip Kumar the title of Tragedy king and the image which did not fade with changing times. The remake of Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bansali shows the fact the story is immortal and has not lost its significance even today, more than 70 years after its creation. Similarly Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s Parineeta was picturised by Bimal Roy in 1953 with Meena Kumari in the lead role. The same film had been remade by Pradeep Sarkar in recent times and had been well appreciated by the Indian masses showing the strength of the story and the depth of thought of the author.



Bimal Roy picturised Biraj Bahu in 1954, another story of Sarat Chandra Chatterji, showing the experiences of rural Bengal. Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s classic story Niskriti, based on the problems of joint family system was picturised in Bengali film and in the hindi film Apne Paraye, 1980, the pain of poverty was well depicted through strong performance of Shabana Azmi and Amol Palekar with Utpal Dutta’s compassionate andaz as elder brother. Sarat Chandra Chatterji could think ahead of his time, because joint families are getting eroded these days due to lack of adjustment and giving birth to nuclear families. Besides the biographies of Sarat Chandra Chatterji were picturised in Bengali cinema in Rajlakhi Srikanto,1958, Kamallata, 1969, where Uttamkumar represented Sarat Chandra himself and Abhaya Srikanto, 1965 where Basonto Chowdhury represented Sarat Chandra. In all these stories, the social stigmas, religious barriers, poverty existing in the rural countryside and condition of women was depicted with such a pictographic dimension that people find themselves and associate themselves in one character or the other.

Noted author Jorasondho had provided immortal stories based on his experiences as Jailor in a Bengal prison. Tapan Sinha mesmerised the Bengali audience with his powerful adaptation of the novel Louhakapat in 1958. Chabi Biswas’s performance was well acclaimed throughout Bengal and Nirmal Kumar playing the role of the observer was well appreciated. Bimal Roy made his epic film Bandini on the story of Jorasandho in 1963. The tragic background of individual prisoners made people think whether our justice system punishes the crime or the offender. Other landmark stories include hinger kachuri, written by Bibhutibhushan Mukherjee, which was picturised as Nishipadda, 1970, where Uttamkumar gave a lifetime performance and also translated into hindi version in Shakti Shamant’s Amar prem, 1972. The list can go on. As Bengalis are characterised with their depth of thinking, analysing and feeling human emotions, Bengali literature still is an invaluable asset, even today. Still realistic films can be made from the classic literature of different ages by thoughtful directors. Efforts should be made to translate the Bengali classic literature into different regional languages, so that more section of the society can cherish them for generations.


[1] My father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, had interviewed Dilip Roy, eminent actor of Bengali films who was his witness, in a case instituted in Bankshall Court, who said there was no second actor in India who could depict the role of Zamindar in the way Chabi Biswas had done in Saheb bibi Golam, Jalsaghar, Dui Purush, Antarikha, etc. He also said when Raj Kapoor tested Chabi Biswas in the role of a drunkard in the film Ekdin Ratre, 1955, his performance in the song “Ei duniyay bhai sabi hoy” sung by Manna Dey, he came down the trolley and saluted Chabi Biswas saying he had not seen an actor in Indian screen like Chabi Biswas. In the hindi version Jagte Raho, 1956, the same character was played by Motilal, but he could not match the level of excellence of Chabi Biswas.

[2] Kabuliwala received President’s Gold Medal for best film in 1957. Renowned Director Satyajit Ray in his TV interview on DD Bangla had said Chabi Biswas was the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen and giving him direction was his greatest challenge in the award winning films Jalsaghar, 1958, Devi, 1960, Kanchenjungha, 1962. Chabi Biswas’s performance in the film Manik, 1956, the adaptation of Oliver Twist written by Charles Dickens, in a role of a handicapped grandfather could have brought him Oscar had the film being placed for the nomination.