THE SAGA CONTINUES ......

He was rare among his colleagues, who always thought about the producers, rather than making money for his own. He was always made small budget films, so that the producers got encouragement to do more work. On those days, money making in this field was very difficult. He was also among the few , who gave opportunity to the young and fresh artist to show their talent on the screen.

He also dreamt of producing  his own feature film. Keeping that in mind, he launched a new aspiring actress named Soma Mukherjee for a movie based on the family melodramatic story named ‘noho mata noho kanya’ of Shailojananda Mukhopadhayay. It was later released as ‘ Boro Bhai’ starring Soma Mukherjee, Santu Mukherjee,Satya Bandopadhay, etc. This film got critics appreciation and tax levied by the government. It was a hit but the amount of revenue gained from the business activity was swept away by the distributor.

Needless to say, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar was not only a iconic performer but was a very generous human being. He thought immensely for the upliftment of the condition of the artists and the technicians as well. He was among few, who stood beside directors and helped them to rise. With Mahanayak,he directed ‘Rodon Bhora Basanta’, based on the best seller ’79 Park Avenue’ of Harold Robins. It was produced by Manju Par. It was a bold film among the contemporary scenario, the censor board declared it as an adult movie. Basabi Nandi, utpal Dutta, Dilip Roy,etc. was also in the film.

ONE AFTER ANOTHER CREATIONS......

The second project with Uttam Kumar was ‘Dui Purush’, it was about the transformation from the Panchayat protagonist to a well to do lawyer was a act of masterpiece. The leading man was not only a powerhouse of acting but a character of excellence. He  listened to all the directors with great enthusiast and put his valuable inputs in the respective projects.Other artists involved in this project was Supriya Devi, Partho, Nandini Malia, Lily Chakraborty, Dilip Roy,etc.

After that he did ‘Sudhur Niharika’ with Soumitra Chatterjee and Sumitra Mukherjee, the story was based on reincarnation. In this movie Debasree Roy and Arindam Ganguly acted as the child artist for the leading pair. Soumitro Chatterjee was another great human being. He interferes very little in director’s activity, he was a dedicated entertainer.

Next comes the super hit ‘Shayam Siddha’, Mithu Mukherjee was the female protagonist and bagged many awards for her excellent performance in the film. Even Ranjit Mullick got tremendous exposure with the character of a mentally challenged and earned fame.. It should be added that Mr.Ranjit Mullick thought and experimented a great deal to portray a character of a mentally retarded, who was regularly and slowly poisoned by his step mother from childhood. He used a betel nut in his mouth constantly during the shoot to create a impression of a retarded person. It was definitely a challenging act. My father welcomed  inputs from him regarding the character. It was marketed very well and did business all over the state, still remembered by many people.

Heard about the success of the film. The Orissa film maker approached my father to do the film in Orissa version. He did that and was super hit in Orissa as well. It was named as ‘Gauri’, acted by Mahasweta and Prashanta Nanda. It was a gateway for him to work in another regional film fraternity. The door opened and they greeted him with wide open hands. But the situation of the artists were worse there. My father advocates for the actors and did great deal for the improvement of the Orissa film industry.