Uttam Kumar's Chowrangee astonished the literary community

Uttam Kumar’s Chowrangee astonished the literary community.

Uttam Kumar’s acting versatility reached the intellectuals of Bengal by mid-60s. His films including Tapan Sinha’s Jotugriha, Satyajit Ray’s Nayak, Ajoy’s Kar’s Saptapadi, ended up being cine-classics which had paved the way for thoughtful filmmaking in the later years. Chowrangee was the landmark literature of writer Shankar which was given expression by director Pinaki Mukherjee.

Released in 1968, the film was related to the life of Grand Hotel in Kolkata. Uttam Kumar was the receptionist of the five star hotel, better known as Sata Bose. Subhendu Chatterji got a job as another receptionist in Grand Hotel, who was groomed and trained by Uttam Kumar.

The striking part of the film lied in the depiction of numerous weird characters in the film who visited Grand Hotel during the 50s and 60s and whose activities could be predicted by Uttam Kumar with his profound experience in the hotel industry. Utpal Dutta played the role of Marco Polo, one of the members of the management of Grand Hotel. He gave the job to Subhendu Chatterji due to request of Dipak Mukherjee whom he knew very well.

The character artists played significant role in the film. Biswajeet Chatterji played the role of Mr. Pakrasi, the son of Deepti Ray, who fell in love with Supriya Choudhury in the film. Bhanu Banerjee played the role of employee in Grand Hotel, Jahar Roy played the role of Chief Chef in the film, Prashanto Kumar played the role of the Violin Player in the film.

Uttam Kumar fell in love with Anjana Bhowmick, an air-hostess who came to visit Grand Hotel a number of times. But at the end of the film when Uttam Kumar left the job and planned to go and settle in Mumbai after marrying Anjana Bhowmick, the last flight of Anjana Bhowmick crashed and the hopes of Uttam Kumar also crashed with the accident.

Ashima Bhattacharya, the producer in the film composed a landmark song for Manna Dey. The song was titled “meghero khela akasho pare”. The remained as one of the greatest hit songs sung by Manna Dey for Uttam Kumar.

The film Chowrangee should be preserved and restored for the classic literature, powerful direction, realistic performances and brilliant music.

Utpal Dutt was unparallel in Bikele Bhorer Phool.

Utpal Dutt was unparallel in Bikele Bhorer Phool.

Utpal Dutt was unparallel in the film Bikele Bhorer Phool. Eminent director Pijush Bose directed the film in 1973 and it was a very successful film of Uttam Kumar.

The story of writer Samaresh Bose in the film was related to the love story of a young girl played by Sumitra Mukherjee with an old novelist Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar at the end of the film convinced Sumitra Mukherjee that he was too old and the difference of age stood in the way of their romance, so the relationship could not go in any other direction.

Utpal Dutt played the role of a District Magistrate in the film who met Uttam Kumar, the novelist in Digha when he went for a holiday. Utpal Dutt did not have any children and he loved children a lot.

When he was called by the female group of students in their hotel for giving a lecture, he addressed all of them as mothers. The girls laughed a lot. Then he sang a song with the lyrics “ma howa ki mukher kotha” in the most hilarious way that was possible. He wanted to prove that it was not easy to be a mother.

He being a DM, had other official duties. But when he spent time to write poems then the poems were all dedicated towards children. Uttam Kumar was moved by his performance.

Utpal Dutt, having a grand experience of acting in theatre, especially in Minerva Theatre in Kolkata, used to create a great impression even in films where his roles were short. His voice modulation and use of the eyes created a separate identity for which the legendary directors like Satyajit Ray, Ajoy Kar, Tarun Majumdar reposed confidence on him.

His performance in Bikele Bhorer Phool created added attraction for the viewers for which the film should be restored.

Utpal Dutt – the majestic actor of bollywood.

Utpal Dutt – the majestic actor of bollywood.

Utpal Dutt is one of the most versatile theatre personalities who had glorified bollywood films with his knowledge and classic performances. He created his own theatre group called Little Theatres in the 60s, where he directed famous plays like Angar, Ferrary Fauj, Nicher Mahal, etc., and also translated Shakesperean plays like Othello, Macbeth, etc. into regional languages and directed them.

He performed very well in Mrinal Sen’s film Bhuban Some. Hrishikesh Mukherjee utilised his outstanding comedy conception in films like Guddi, Golmaal, Naram Garam, etc. In Guddi, he played the role of the relative of Jaya Bacchan, and with the help of Dhramender, showed her shooting of different films. Jaya was obsessed towards Dharmender and just like other teenagers, she used to think that whatever was shown in any film was true. Utpal Dutt showed her the reality and broke her myth.

In Golmaal, he was the owner of Urmila Traders, and the father of Vindya Goswami. He employed Amol Palekar in his company he went on taking the recourse of falsehood one after the other to survive in the company. Utpal Dutt believed in old values and Amol Palekar even played a double role, one showing the character of Ram and the other showing the character of Laxman. The film had excellent script, and Utpal Dutt’s loud performance had balanced Amol Palekar’s soft dialogue throwing.

The same team did very well in the film Naram Garam, where Utpal Dutt was told by an astrologer that marriage can change his fortune. He went to marry Swaroop Sampad at an old age, while his relatives appeared and he asked Amol Palekar to marry her. Wihle comedy performance looked very easy due to talented performance from Utpal Dutt, he also played the role of villain in a number of films.

He played the role of villain opposite Uttamkumar, in Amanush, opposite Amitabh in Inquilab, etc. His other notable films include Kisi Se Na Kehna, with Farooq Sheikh, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, with Big B. Utpal Dutt was also a big asset in Satyajit Ray’s films. He played the leading role in the film Agantuk, where depicted the values of Ray himself. Besides his performance in the role of Maganlal Meghraj in Joy Baba Felunath and villanish performance in Hirok Rajar Deshe, amazed the viewers. It is difficult to highlight the contribution of Utpal Dutt in a small article because he was scholar, great theatrical personality, powerful actor of bollywood and tollywood films. Actors of the present generation can learn a lot from the performances of Utpal Dutt.

By: CR Chatterji.