Soumitra Chattopadhyay’s roles tell us why he came to be known as Bangla cinema’s Alt superstar
Soumitra Chattopadhyay — Chatterjee to anglicised India — answers to the term ‘phenomenon’ as absolutely as few actors do, for the sheer ease with which he defied the cliches of image. His stardom was sensational, and yet born out of realism. He was the mascot of the peerless Satyajit Ray’s oeuvre, having worked with the maestro in 14 films, and yet he scored with the same assuredness in works of contemporary commercial powerhouses as Ajoy Kar and Tarun Mazumdar. He is the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2012) and Padma Bhushan (2004) recipient who was also honoured with the Legion d’Honneur (2018) in France for his contribution to world cinema.
Soumitra he had something for everyone. He was not just Satyajit Ray’s Apu. Beyond such a nuanced portrayal, he could also simply become Ray’s Feluda and reach out to every audience — from eight to 80. Ray was looking for his adult Apu in Apur Sansar, final part of the Apu trilogy that started with Pather Panchali. A friend introduced Soumitra to the master filmmaker who promptly declared the budding actor looked too old to be Apu, a college student according to his script. Soumitra would eventually bag the role opposite Sharmila Tagore, of course, and the rest is history.
Soumitra’s cinematic fate is overwhelmingly dictated by the great cinema of Satyajit Ray, so much so the maestro’s filmography through his most important phase outlines the actor’s career graph. Soumitra made his debut with Apur Sansar (1959) and, over the next three decades, would work in Ray projects as Devi (1960), Teen Kanya (1961), Abhijan (1962), Charulata (1964), Kapurush O Mahapurush (1965), Aranyer Din Ratri (1969), Ashani Sanket (1973), Sonar Kella (1974), Joy Baba Felunath (1978), Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980), Ghare Baire (1984), Ganashatru (1989) and Shakha Proshakha (1990).
Consider a few other diversely prolific filmmakers beyond Ray who worked with Soumitra, and you get the picture. Mrinal Sen, another global icon of Bangla cinema of the era, directed Soumitra for the first time in Punascha (1961), and then again returned to collaborate with the actor in Pratinidhi (1964), Akash Kusum (1965), and Mahaprithibi (1991). The iconic Tapan Sinha directed him in projects as Kshudhita Pashan (1960), Jhinder Bandi (1961), Atanka (1984) and Antardhan (1992).
Mainstream titans of his era loved working with the affable Soumitra, too. Asit Sen directed him in Swayambara (1961) and Swaralipi (1961), while Ajoy Kar made Otol Joler Ahoban (1962), Saat Pake Baandha (1963), Barnali (1963), Kaanch Kata Heere (1965) and Parineeta (1969). Tarun Mazumdar directed the actor over the years in Ektuku Baasha (1965), Sansar Simante (1975), Ganadevata (1978), Agomon (1988) and Path O Prasad (1991).
Most of his directors have often spoken about the insatiable passion he had for his craft. It was something that ensured he would stay busy as ever till his last days, essaying character roles with the same enthusiasm with which he executed starring roles in his heydays. His 300-plus film career probably can be explained by his highly adaptable quality as an actor. He was at home working with new-age Bengali filmmakers as Atanu Ghosh (Mayurakshi), Suman Ghosh (Podokkhep, Peace Haven, Dwando, Basu Paribar), Partha Chakraborty (Samantaral) and Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee (Posto).
He moved outside Bengal into the Bollywood industry twice. In 1986, he acted opposite Roopa Ganguly in the Hindi short film Nirupama, based on Rabindranath Tagore’s story Dena Paona. He also bagged a role in the 2002 release, Hindustani Sipahi, based on Utpal Dutt’s renowned Bangla play Pherari Fauj.