Soumitra Chatterjee

Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 19 January 1935 – 15 November 2020)[2] was an Indian film actor, director, playwright, writer and poet. He is best known for his collaborations with director Satyajit Ray, with whom he worked in fourteen films.

Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee in 1959
Born
Soumitra Chattopadhyay

(1935-01-19)19 January 1935
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died15 November 2020(2020-11-15) (aged 85)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India[1]
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta
OccupationActor, poet, writer, playwright, theatre director
Years active1959–2020
Works
Filmography
Spouse(s)
Deepa Chatterjee
​
(m. 1960)​
Children2
AwardsPadma Bhushan (2004)
Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2012)
Knight of Legion of Honour (2018)
Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award - South (1994)

Starting with his debut film, Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959), the third part of The Apu Trilogy, as adult Apu, he went on to work in several films with Ray, including Abhijan (The Expedition, 1962), Charulata (The Lonely Wife, 1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1969), Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder, 1973), Sonar Kella (The Fortress, 1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1978) as Feluda, Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980), Ghare Baire (The Home and The World, 1984), Shakha Proshakha (1990) and Ganashatru (Enemy of the People, 1989).

He also worked with other noted directors of Bengali cinema, such as Mrinal Sen in Akash Kusum (Up in the Clouds, 1965); Tapan Sinha in Kshudhita Pashan (Hungry Stones, 1960), Jhinder Bandi (1961); Asit Sen in Swaralipi (1961), Ajoy Kar in Parineeta (1969), and Tarun Mazumdar in Ganadevata (1978). He acted in more than 210 films in his career. He also received critical acclaim for his directorial debut Stree Ki Patra (1986) which was based on the Bengali short story Streer Patra by Rabindranath Tagore.[3]

Chatterjee was the recipient of multiple honours and awards. Chatterjee was the first Indian film personality who was conferred with France's highest award for artists, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1999). He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan (2004) and France's highest civilian award Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur (2017).[4] He received two National Film Awards as an actor and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his work in theatre. In 2012, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema given by the government of India for lifetime achievement. In 2013, IBN Live named him as one of "The men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema".[5]

Early life and background

Soumitra was born in Mirjapur Street (now Surya Sen Street) near Sealdah railway station, in Calcutta in 1935. The first ten years of his early life were spent in Krishnanagar in West Bengal. The town under the influence of playwright Dwijendralal Ray, also from Krishnanagar, had a flourishing theatre culture, with numerous small theatre groups. His grandfather was the president of one such group while his father, though lawyer by profession and later a government worker, also worked as an amateur actor. Encouraged by the praise he received for his acting in school plays, gradually his interest in theatre grew with passing years.[6] He was a very close friend of famous theatre personality, Mrityunjay Sil who is often regarded as a key influence on his career.[7]

Soumitra and his family moved to Howrah where he studied at the Howrah Zilla School and Calcutta during his early years. Soumitra graduated from the City College, Kolkata with honours in Bengali literature, as a graduating student of the University of Calcutta.[7] He lived for a few years in Calcutta in Satyajit Ray's old apartment at 3-lake temple road. He studied for his M.A. in Bengali from the University of Calcutta. While still a student, he learnt acting under noted actor-director of Bengali theatre Ahindra Choudhury.[7] However a turning point came when in the final year of college he saw a play by Sisir Bhaduri, theatre director and the doyen of Bengali theatre. The play not only set a standard for acting for him, but also helped make up his mind to become an actor. He managed to meet Bhaduri, through his friend's mother, actress Shefalika Putul. Though, he met Bhaduri, towards the end of his career, when his theatre had closed, nevertheless over the next three years, till Bhaduri's death in 1959, Chatterjee made him a mentor, and learnt the craft of acting through their regular interactions.[6][8][9] He even appeared in a small role in one of Bhaduri's productions.[10][11]

Subsequently, he started his career working in All India Radio as an announcer,[10] While he was there he started pursuing a career in films. He came in touch with Ray during the casting for Aparajito (1956), who was looking for new faces. Ray thought he had the right look, however found him, age 20, and just out of college, too old for the role of adolescent Apu. Ray remembered him and offered him the role of adult Apu two years later.[12][13][10] Meanwhile, he was rejected in his screen test for Bengali film, Nilachale Mahaprabhu (1957) directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay.[9]

Career

Work with Satyajit Ray: 1959–1990

Chatterjee had gone on the sets of Ray's fourth film, Jalsaghar (1958) to watch the shoot. He was unaware that he had already been selected for the title role in the Apu trilogy. That day, while he was leaving the sets, Ray called him over and introduced him to actor Chhabi Biswas as "This is Soumitra Chattopadhyay; he's playing Apu in my next film Apur Sansar" leaving him much surprised.[14] Despite being selected, as a debutant actor, Chatterjee was nevertheless unsure of his career choice and especially his looks, as he didn't consider himself photogenic. However, on 9 August 1958, when the first shooting of the film was accepted in a single take, he realized that he had found his vocation.[9] Thus Soumitra's film debut came in 1959 in Satyajit Ray's The World of Apu (Apur Sansar). In fact Ray believed with a beard Chatterjee looked like young poet laureate Tagore.[15]

Soumitra would go on to collaborate with Ray in fourteen films. His centrality to Ray's work is akin to other key collaborations in the history of cinema — Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa, Marcello Mastroianni and Federico Fellini, De Niro and Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, Max von Sydow and Ingmar Bergman, Jerzy Stuhr and Krzysztof Kieślowski, Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog.[16][17] After Apur Sansar, he also worked with Sharmila Tagore in a number of Ray's films, apart from working with leading star actor of the period, Uttam Kumar, with whom he has often been compared, in eight films.[18][19]

Chatterjee was cast in diverse roles by Ray and some of the stories and screenplays that Ray wrote were said to be written with him in mind. Soumitra featured as Feluda/Pradosh Chandra Mitter, the famous private investigator from Calcutta in Ray's Feluda series of books, in two films in the 1970s Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). These two films were the first film series made for Feluda and are considered as the Feluda original film series. He was the first person who portrayed the iconic Bengali sleuth Feluda. Satyajit Ray made some illustrations of Feluda based on Soumitra's body figure and look in the 1970s Feluda books. After him Sabyasachi Chakrabarty took the role of the iconic Bengali hero Feluda in the mid-1990s.

Soumitra had approached Satyajit Ray to suggest a name for a little magazine founded by Soumitra and Nirmalya Acharya in 1961. Satyajit Ray had named the magazine Ekkhon (Now), he designed the inaugural cover page and illustrated the cover pages regularly even after Soumitra had stopped editing the magazine. Nirmalya continued editing the magazine, and several of Ray's scripts were published in the magazine.[20]

Other works

Besides working with Ray, Soumitra excelled in collaborations with other well-known Bengali directors such as Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. He earned critical acclaim for his role of an impostor in Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum (1965). He was equally confident in playing the swashbuckling horse-riding villain in Tapan Sinha's Jhinder Bandi (1961) giving the legendary Uttam Kumar a tough challenge. In the romantic film Teen Bhubaner Pare (1969), he shared the screen with actress Tanuja, the film was noted for his "flamboyant" style of acting. Besides films, Chatterjee continued acting in Kolkata-based Bengali theatre, and also published over 12 poetry books.[21]

Entering the 1980s and 1990s, he started working with contemporary directors, like Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Anjan Das and Rituparno Ghosh, and even acted on television. In 1986, he played the role of a swimming coach in film Kony (1986) directed by Saroj Dey, who was part of the film collective Agragami. The film is about a young girl from a slum, who wants to become a swimmer.[19] At the 32nd National Film Awards, the film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.[22] Later in a 2012 interview, he called Kony one of the best films of his career. He even recalled using film's catch-phrase "Fight-Koni-fight" in hard times, as a chant to himself to lift his "aging spirits". The phrase had become popular with middle-class Bengalis at the time.[19]

Theatre

He replaced Mrityunjay Sil as the lead artist in 1958. Mrityunjay Sil was at the peak of his theatre career at that time. But due to personal issues he suggested his friend, Soumitra's name. Mrityunjay Sil is often credited with being one of the few people to have helped Soumitra. But he soon left his job.[7]

After a two-decade long busy career as a leading man of Bengali cinema, he returned to theatre in 1978, with his production Naam Jiban, staged at Biswarupa Theatre in Kolkata. This led to other plays like Rajkumar (1982), Phera (1987), Nilkantha (1988), Ghatak Biday (1990) and Nyaymurti (1996), beside notable plays like Tiktiki (1995), an adaptation of Sleuth and Homapakhi (2006). Besides acting, he has written and directed several plays, translated a few and also branched out to poetry reading in recent decades.[7]

Since November 2010, he regularly performed in the title role of the play Raja Lear directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, a play based on King Lear by William Shakespeare. Soumitra received widespread critical and popular accolades for his acting in the play.[19]

Awards and recognition
Chatterjee in 2011.

Chatterjee received the 'Officier des Arts et Metiers, the highest award for arts given by the French government in 1999, and the Lifetime Award at the Naples Film Festival, Italy.[23][24] He turned down the Padma Shri award from the Indian government in the 1970s.[23] In 2004, he accepted the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from the President of India.[25] He has been the subject of a full-length documentary named Gaach by French film director Catherine Berge. In 1998, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.[26]

Incidentally, besides receiving eight awards from the Bengal Film Journalists' Association for the best actor[27] and international recognition for his acting prowess, Chatterjee never won a National Film Award for acting in the early part of his career, which established his reputation as an actor, working with directors like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen. Thus, over the years, he has been vocal about his feelings of disappointment and alleging bias in the National Film Awards committee towards awarding popular and mainstream cinema.[6][8] Thus, in a gesture of protest against, he turned down the 2001 Special Jury Award for Dekha directed by Goutam Ghose. Later in an interview he stated "the National Film Awards, overlooked my performances in several powerful roles.When I did Kony, Shashi Kapoor was adjudged the best actor. Anil Kapoor was feted (Best Actor) for Pukar while Dekha was awarded a 'consolation' prize".[8][28]

However, after receiving the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour given by Government of India in 2004, he changed his viewpoint towards awards, and stated "Now (after Padma Bhushan) I feel I don't have the right to hurt my viewers by rejecting an award."[8] A few years later, on 9 June 2008, he was awarded the 2007 National Film Award for Best Actor for Podokkhep (Footsteps) (2006),[29] which he accepted though stating "after decades of acting, I do not attach too much value to it".[30]
In 2010, he won Best Supporting Actor at 54th Asia-Pacific Film Festival for his role in Angshumaner Chhobi (2009).[31]

In 2012, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.[18][21] In 2014, he received the introductory Filmfare Awards East for Best Male Actor (Critics) for his role in Rupkatha Noy[32] and also he won Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South (1994).[33]

Civilian awards

Source(s):[34]

National Film Awards
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Source(s):[40]

Filmfare Awards East

Source(s):[41]

Filmfare Awards South

Source(s):[41]

Filmography
Main article: Soumitra Chatterjee filmography

Works

Chatterjee has multiple works to his credit in Bengali, including:

Books
  • Charitrer Sandhane ("Search of Character"; 2004). Kolkata: Saptarshi Prakashan.[42]
  • Pratidin Taba Gatha ("You Sing Everyday"; 2009). Kolkata: Aajkaal Publishers Pvt Ltd.[43] About Rabindranath Tagore in many aspects of his life.
  • Agrapathikera ("Pioneers"; 2010). Kolkata: Aajkaal Publishers Pvt Ltd.[44] A memoir of his seniors and friends who are no more.
  • Porichoy: ("Introduction"; 2013). Prakash Bhaban.[45]
  • Manikdar Sange ("With Manik Da"; 2014). Kolkata: Aajkaal Publishers Pvt Ltd.[46] Translated as "The Master and I: Soumitra on Satyajit" by Arunava Sinha. Depicts the journey with his master Satyajit Ray (1959-1992).
Poetry collections
  • Śreshṭha Kabitā ("Best Poem", poetry collection; 1993). Calcutta: Dey's Publication. ISBN 978-81-295-2654-0[47]
  • Madhyarater Sangket: ("Midnight Signal"; 2012). Kolkata: Signet Press. ISBN 978-93-504-0169-9.[48]
  • Kabita Samagra: ("Poetry Collection"; 2014). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-504-0411-9.[49]
  • Shabdora Aamar Bagane ("Words in My Garden")[50]
Dramas
  • Natak Samagra 1: ("Drama Collection 1"; 2015). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-504-0527-7.[51]
  • Natak Samagra 2: ("Drama Collection 2"; 2017). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-504-0818-6.[52]
  • Natak Samagra 3: ("Drama Collection 3"). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-504-0959-6.[53]
In translation

The Master and I: Soumitra on Satyajit, Soumitra Chatterjee, tr. by Arunava Sinha. Supernova Publishers, 2014. ISBN 9788189930721.[54] Translation of Chatterjee's Manikdar Sange.

Works about
  • Soumitra Chatterjee: A Life in Cinema, Theatre, Poetry & Painting. Arjun Sengupta & Partha Mukherjee. Niyogi Books, 2021. ISBN 9389136768
  • Beyond Apu - 20 Favourite film roles of Soumitra Chatterjee. Amitava Nag. Harper Collins India, 2016. ISBN 9350298619.[55]
  • Soumitra edited by Alok Chattopadhyay and Manas Chakraborty. ISBN 938539357X.[56]
  • Gaach (1998), a documentary film by Catherine Berge; produced by Merchant Ivory Productions.[57]
  • Palu: A film on Soumitra Chatterjee (2018), a Bengali documentary film by Partha Mukherjee and Arunendra Mookherjee; produced by Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata.[58]

Illness and death

On 5 October 2020, Chatterjee tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted on 6 October in Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata.[59][60] However, he tested negative to the second COVID-19 test conducted on 14 October. In the meantime, his complications (urinary tract infection, fluctuations in sodium potassium levels, etc.) made the condition critical and he had to be admitted to ITU. From 13 October, his condition started to improve marginally and on 14 October, he was transferred from a Covid unit to a non-Covid unit. He was kept on BiPAP support and invasive ventilation for in the critical times; after his improvement in health, the treatment mechanisms were changed. He was under the supervision of a medical team of 16 physicians. On 25 October, his condition further deteriorated.[61] On 15 November 2020, Chatterjee died due to COVID-19 [62] induced encephalopathy at Bellevue hospital in Kolkata at 12.15 p.m.[63]

See also

References
  1. "Soumitra Chatterjee: India acting legend dies, aged 85". BBC News.
  2. "Legendary Soumitra Chattopadhyay passes away". The Times of India. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  3. "Feluda and fangirl!". Telegraph India. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  4. "After Honouring Him With The Highest Award, French Embassy Pays Tribute To Soumitra Chatterjee". IndiaTimes. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  5. "News18.com: CNN News18 Latest News, Breaking News India, Current News Headlines". News18.
  6. Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay (21 April 2012). "My search for man". Frontline Magazine, the Hindu. 29 (8). Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  7. "Soumitra Chatterjee Profile". Upperstall. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. "I have no right to hurt my viewers". The Times of India. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. Anuradha SenGupta (29 June 2008). "Being Soumitra Chatterjee: Star of the East". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  10. Ray 1996, p. 131.
  11. Soumitra Chatterjee, Actor satyajitray.org. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  12. Robinson 1989, p. 99.
  13. Ray 2007, p. 161.
  14. "Soumitra Chatterjee on his master Satyajit Ray". The Times of India. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  15. Ray 2007, p. 42.
  16. Salil Tripathi (28 March 2012). "A master of his craft". Mint. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  17. Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay (18 December 2020). "Soumitra Chatterjee, a cultural tour de force". Frontline.
  18. Tankha, Madhur (4 May 2012). "Phalke Award conferred on Soumitra Chatterjee". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  19. "Soumitra Chatterjee: I don't have much faith in awards". Rediff.com Movies. 16 May 2012. pp. 1–7. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  20. Robinson 1989, p. 296.
  21. "Soumitra Chatterjee to receive Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2011 (PIB)" (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), India. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  22. "32nd National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  23. Amitava Nag (10 January 2016). Beyond Apu - 20 Favourite Film Roles of Soumitra Chatterjee. HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 6. ISBN 978-93-5029-862-6.
  24. "Outlook". Outlook. Vol. 44 no. 1–7. Hathway Investments Pvt Limited. 2004. p. 68.
  25. "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs.
  26. "SNA: List of Akademi Awardees". Sangeet Natak Akademi Official website. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
  27. "BJFA Awards – Official Listings, 1938 onwards (Yearwise)". Bengal Film Journalists' Association. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014.
  28. "48th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  29. "54th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  30. "Award comes "too late in the day" for Soumitra". The Hindu. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  31. "Asia-Pacific Film Festival: List of Winners - Hear in Taiwan". blog.rti.org.tw. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  32. "Star-struck tryst with Black Lady". The Times of India. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  33. "Lifetime Achievement Award (South) winners down the years...". filmfare.com.
  34. "Awards Legendary Actor Soumitra Chatterjee Won in His Acting Career". News18. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  35. Soumitra Chatterjee (Akademi Awardee): Theatre - (Acting - Bengali). sangeetnatak.gov.in.
  36. Soumitra Chatterjee (Tagore Akademi Fellow): Theatre - (Acting - After 2004). sangeetnatak.gov.in.
  37. "Soumitra Chatterjee to be honoured with Legion of Honor, France's highest civilian award". 10 June 2017.
  38. "Soumitra Chatterjee to receive Legion d'Honneur".
  39. "Soumitra Chatterjee Awards: List of awards and nominations received by Soumitra Chatterjee | Times of India Entertainment". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  40. "BENGAL FILM JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION". 12 November 2014. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  41. "Filmfare Obituary - Soumitra Chatterjee". filmfare.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  42. "Charitrer Sandhane". boighar.in. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  43. Pratidin Taba Gatha (Bengali). Apple Books.
  44. "Agrapathikera". boighar.in. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  45. "পরিচয়". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  46. "Manikdar Sange". boighar.in. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  47. "Shrestha Kavita, Soumitra Chattopadhyay". deyspublishing.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  48. "Madhyarater Sangket". Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  49. "Kabita Samagra". Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  50. "শব্দরা আমার বাগানে". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  51. "Natak Samagra 1". Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  52. "Natak Samagra 2". Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  53. "Natak Samagra 3". Ananda Publishers. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  54. "The Master And I : Soumitra on Satyajit". supernovapublishers.com.
  55. Nag, Amitava (26 January 2016). Beyond Apu - 20 Favourite Film Roles of Soumitra Chatterjee. Harper Collins India. ASIN 9350298619.
  56. Soumitra- Alok Chattopadhyay. ASIN 938539357X.
  57. "Gaach (1998)". Indiancine.ma.
  58. "Palu: A film on Soumitra Chatterjee". indianculture.gov.in. Ministry of Culture.
  59. "Soumitra Chatterjee moved to ICU, remains in 'high-risk zone' after testing positive for Covid-19". Pres Trust of India. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  60. Banerjie, Monideepa (12 October 2020). "Concern Grows For Actor Soumitra Chatterjee As Covid Stokes Cancer Fears". ndtv.com. NDTV. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  61. "Soumitra Chatterjee Put On Ventilator Support; "It Is A Steep Challenge," Says Doctor". NDTV.com.
  62. "প্রয়াত সৌমিত্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় । জীবনের মঞ্চ ছেড়ে মহাকালের গ্রিনরুমে বাঙালির প্রিয় নায়ক". Nagarik News.
  63. "Legendary Actor Soumitra Chatterjee Dies At 85 In Kolkata". NDTV. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
    - "Soumitra Chatterjee: Legendary actor passes away at 85". Indian Express. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
    - "Soumitra Chatterjee: India acting legend dies, aged 85". BBC News. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020."প্রয়াত সৌমিত্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় । জীবনের মঞ্চ ছেড়ে মহাকালের গ্রিনরুমে বাঙালির প্রিয় নায়ক" Nagarik News . 15 November 2020

Bibliography

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