Uttam Kumar and Tapan Sinha.

Uttam Kumar and Tapan Sinha.

Uttam Kumar was the dominating legend of Bengali silver screen and probably worked with all the leading directors of Bengali films including Satyajit Ray. Tapan Sinha used Uttam Kumar in three films Upahaar, Jhinder Bandi and Jotu Griha and in all these films his standard of excellence was exhibited.

In Jhinder Bandi, Uttam Kumar played a double role, where Shankar Narayan Singh, the king of the state of Jhind was kidnapped by his brother Tarun Kumar and his twin brother had to come all the way from Kolkata to come and rescue him. The story was the adaptation of the Hollywood film Prisoner of Zenda.

Shankar Narayan Singh was shown as harmless king who had tremendous affection for his brother. Tarun Kumar used the expertise of Soumitra Chatterji in the film to kidnap his brother and keep in him in an underground prison.

Uttam Kumar, the brother from Kolkata used the resemblance of Shankar Narayan Singh and used all his soldiers to release the actual ruler. In the process he had to pretend as king before Arundhuti Debi was scheduled to marry the ruler. At the end of the film after saving Shankar Narayn Singh, his brother returned back to Kolkata. The film was a master piece.

In 1964, Tapan Sinha, experimented with a complex marital relationship in the film Jotu Griha. Both Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi did not have child and got separated due to that reason. The doctor told Arundhuti Debi that she could never bear any child in life. After being separated they met each other in a railway station. There both of them confessed that their life became miserable without the other spouse. Both of them had tremendous respect for each other.

Uttam Kumar broke the myth that was present in the minds of intellectual viewers that as he was mannerism oriented matinee-idol, he could not excel in realistic films. His performance in the films of Tapan Sinha, Ajoy Kar, Satyajit Ray, Gulzar, had shown that he was as good an actor as a romantic hero. The films should be restored and preserved.