Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterji.


Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterji.

By: CR Chatterji.

Uttam Kumar had acted in around 205 films including Bengali films and bollywood films and formed successful combination opposite Suchitra Sen, Arundhuti Debi, Sharmila Tagore and many other successful actresses of 50s, 60s, and 70s. Amongst them Sabitri Chatterji was known for her dynamic performances in the films opposite Uttam Kumar.

She was sublime in the role of a deaf and dumb girl in the play Shyamali, which was remade as film by Ajoy Kar. In Uttarayan Sabitri Chatterji played the role of the wife of Uttam Kumar who was military major who died at the warfront. Uttam Kumar had a double role in the film. The other military officer was asked to conceal the news of the death of the military major as his mother was old and could not digest the news. In Kal Tumi Aleya, Sabitri played the role of the neighbour of Uttam Kumar, whose husband was reckless and she committed suicide at the end of the film due to poverty.

While Sabitri Chatterji was elegant in the tragic role, she complimented Uttam Kumar in the serio-comic films with her comedy performance. In Bhrantibilas, the Bengali version of bollywood film Angur, Sabitri was the wife of Uttam Kumar, and got mixed up with the appearance of his twin brother. The performance of both Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterji was excellent and created a challenge for Sanjeev Kumar and Moushumi Chatterji in Angur.

Similarly Sabitri did well in the film Dhanni Meye, where she was the wife of Uttam Kumar and failed to convince him to accept Jaya Bacchan as his brother’s wife. Ultimately, Uttam Kumar’s team won football match in the village of Jaya Bacchan and sacrificed the shield to bring her back to Kolkata as the wife of his brother. Similarly their performance in the film Mouchak was very entertaining.

Most of the films of Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterji became legendary classics with passage of time, like Nishipoddo, which was remade in hindi as Amar Prem, where Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore played their roles. The films should be preserved for their aesthetic value.

1 comment:

  1. Sabitri Chatterji was my client when I worked in Bankshall Court, as Chief PP. She told me when I interviewed her that Uttam Kumar used to get totally invovled with the character of different films. In morutirtha Hinglaj, there was a scene where Uttam Kumar was supposed to hold the neck of Sabitri Chatterji. Uttam Kumar pressed her neck so hard that she vomitted in the set. Then the technicians helped them. Sabitri Chatterji was successful to perform in more than 27 films with Uttam Kumar during 50s, 60s, 70s.
    CR Chatterji.

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