He was beautiful in his youth. Watch him in Apur Sansar or Debi or Aranyer Dinratri or Teen Bhuvaner Paarey and you would be convinced why women would go crazy for him. Yes, Uttam Kumar was the Nayak, but Soumitra Chatterjee was no less. Let's not get into the debate of who was a better actor in the 70s because for every Uttam fan, you will find a Soumitra follower.
What's fascinating is the way Soumitra settled into the elderly roles. Make no mistake, he had no smaller an image than Bachchan in Bengal. Come on, he was Feluda, for Kali's sake. But Uttoran onwards, he was a character and no longer the Charminar-smoking sleuth. Paromitar Ek Din, Sanjhbaatir Rupkathara, Aabar Aranye... Soumitra was as good as the old man as he was as the matinee hero. And just to let the rest of the country know, last year, his turn in Podokhhep won him the National Award for Best Actor.
Just watch him here in a commercial he has done recently for Thums Up and let it load and play till he says "Ebaar jombe moja!" Watch those eyes twinkle, watch that smile engulf his face, watch that slow transformation of the body language... few actors around the world can recall years of experience and translate it at will in a few nano seconds. Soumitra can do that and like Bachchan, he deserves roles written for him. I can tell you I am writing one, with him in mind. And man, I am going to make it!
for an actor whose first 10 films included Apur Sansar, Kshudista Pashan, Devi, Teen Kanya, Jhinder Bandi, Abhijjan and Charulata....he did make some terrible choices in the later half of his career choosing mass over quality....
ReplyDeletenonetheless he remains one of the stalwarts of Indian Cinema....
taka, rick, taka! he is not bachchan who can prance around with a parker pen and pocket a few crores... you got to pick from what you are offered and he was offered very little...
ReplyDeletewell, i guess even if he chose mass over quality in the later half of his career, he did give us something like may be boshonto bilaap to oogle at those "oh so handsome!!" ways which both my mom and me go ga ga over. and the mass"y" turn was interspersed with films like wheelchair and sanjhbatir rupkothara....and that's where his brilliance lies...for an actor who was condemned to be very arty in his heydays (and uttam kuamr to be the one with mass appeal), his transition has been smooth and what something all of us should be proud of. :-)
ReplyDeleteofcourse, he cant be AB! cz when soumitra was asked to quote his price for this ad, he said - baba tumi-ye bole dau na kichu ekta!
ReplyDeletehe is one of the three actors for whom i pray for their gud health, for selfish reasons ofcourse...sm day...sm script..sm film...my name with theirs..soumitra, naseer and shammi kapoor!
@moifightclub - soumitra babu is not that careless about the money... obviously the pay is earthshatteringly low if you compare that with bachchan's... shammi kapoor? what can you make with him now?
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see you make a film with Soumitra Chatterjee as the MAN.
ReplyDelete@moifightclub-shammi kapoor? I thought shashi kapoor was a better option...I was mesmerized by his performance in In Custody.
@pratim - heard it from d person who was handling d finance of the tvc. the guy was surprised cz soumitra cud really hav asked shitload from coke, its coke but he didnt hav much clue n didnt bother much also. whatever gud comes his way.
ReplyDeleteam talking about shammi yahoo kapoor...nothing today may be but then u never know...the way farah used sunil dutt, jeetndar n others in OSO...the original songs..even thats enough!
@ipsita - nobody dances like shammi...ah magic! he is d man! luv shashi too.
@ moifightclub-I agree
ReplyDeleteits good.
ReplyDeletetake care
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