SUCHITRA AND UTTAM The Quintessence of Bengali Cinema

The unforgettable pair.

Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar were not the first superstars of the Bengali cinema. That honour goes to singer-actress Kanan Devi, and Promothesh Barua, the stars of the 1942 hit, "Shesh Uttar." Two of Kanan Devi's songs in "Shesh Uttar," - "Chhande Chhande Duli Anande," and "Jodi Apanar Mone Madhuri Mishaye" - are popular to this day. Our mothers crooned these songs. Promothesh Barua, the first authentic Devdas on celluloid, was a trend setter. Young men proudly sported "Barua cut" in the 1940s. Kanan Devi also recorded several Hindi hits. While alcohol cut short Barua's reign, the illegitimate birth of “Kanan Bala” (as she was originally known) unfairly impeded her all her life.
Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar appeared on the scene as a breath of fresh air in 1952, and took Bengali cinema by storm. While Satayjit Ray's movies were garnering critical acclaim among the educated elite in the 1950s, Suchitra-Uttam movies were mega hits among the masses. Non-Bengali critics may have found their acting overly mawkish, but the Bengali audience loved it!
Whether portraying the rich or the poor, Suchitra-Uttam personified a degree sophistication and chic that Bengalis adored. Vicariously, we imagined ourselves as debonair as Uttam, and craved to experience Suchitra's charm from a closer proximity. Through their movies Suchitra-Uttam highlighted aspects of Bengali life we could identify with.
We did not go to the movies for intellectual nourishment; we went to movies to see Suchitra-Uttam's portrayals of how people like us loved, betrayed, forgave and reconciled. Most importantly, we wanted to hear them express the gamut of their emotions through enchanting songs. Whatever the emotion was - ecstatic, melancholy or meditative - there was always a perfect song to go with it.
Hemanta Mukherjee (who persuaded Lata Mangeshkar to sing in Bengali) was the singing voice of Uttam Kumar in the movies. (Lata's first Bengali song was Satinath Mukherjee's composition, "Aakash Prodip Jwale"). Who can forget Hemanta's booming "Shuno Bondhu Shuno," and "Jhor Uthechhe Baul Batash," or, the more contemplative, "Shurer Aakashe Tumi Jego Shuktara," and "Boshay Aachhi Potho Cheye" from "Shapmochon"?
Although Geeta Dutt ("Tumi Je Aamar" in "Harano Shur," "Eii Sundaro Swarnali Sandhya" in "Hospital") lip sync-ed for Suchitra Sen in several hit movies, it was Sandhya Mukherjee's voice that captured Suchitra's range of emotions impeccably. Sandhya had a deep and mellifluous voice. There are so many Sandhya gems to choose from:” Kichokhon Aro Nahoy Rahete Kache" ("Pothey Holo Deri"), “Ke Tumi Amare Dako” ( “Agni Parikkha”), "Eai To Aamar Prothom Phaguno Bela" (“Shagorika”) to name a few. Then there are immortal Suchitra-Uttam duets courtesy Hemanta-Sandhya, such as, "Eii Poth Jodi Na Sesh Hoi" ("Saptapadi"). After we bought our first VCR in the 1980s, the first movie we watched was Suchitra-Uttam's “Shagorika”!

Suchitra and Uttam

As time robbed them of their physical charm, and the last Suchitra-Uttam movie “Priyo Bandhobi” flopped at the box office in 1975, Suchitra realised that it was time to relinquish her throne. After making her last movie, “Pronoy Pasha,” in 1978, Suchitra chose the life of a recluse. The premature death of Mahanayak Uttam Kumar in July, 1980 (he was only 53) was a severe blow to Suchitra. Suchitra-Uttam were great friends. Uttam, five years senior, was Suchitra's mentor. Always the first to arrive at Suchitra's birthday party, Uttam used to address her as an intimate “Tui.” To Suchitra, Uttam's demise was a severe blow and an irreplaceable loss.
After Uttam's passing, Suchitra's inner circle dwindled down to four: her daughter Moon Moon Sen and her husband Bharat Dev Varma, and her two grandchildren, Raima and Riya. Her industrialist husband Dibanath Sen was originally supportive of Suchitra's film career. However, by some account, later he became envious of Suchitra's fame, and was particularly hostile to Uttam Kumar. Dibanath Sen passed away in 1970, leaving Suchitra alone for the last 43 years of her life.
In death Suchitra Sen has done something hitherto considered impossible. She has unified all the cantankerous factions of the Bangladeshi society into mourning her death!
Now that Suchitra is gone, let us not only mourn her death, but also celebrate her life. She will live forever in the hearts of millions of Bengalis. Eulogizing Suchitra Sen, Lata Mangeshkar called her “one of the finest actors I've seen.” Lata added that she has a collection all of Suchitra's movies, and has watched “Devdas” (with Suchitra and Dilip Kumar, 1955) 10 to 15 times! Lataji also reiterated that one of her favorite songs is picturised on Suchitra Sen is the Hindi movie “Mamta” (1966). The lyrics, composed by Majrooh Sultanpuri captures Suchitra's eternal appeal perfectly: “Rahe naa rahe hum, Maheka Karenge, Ban ke kali, Ban ke sabaa, Baag-ye-Wafaan mein...”(Whether I am around or not, I shall be like a fragrance in the air, amongst the flower buds, in the garden of faithfulness..)
Let us say goodbye to Mahanaika Suchitra Sen by borrowing a line from “Hamlet”: “Good night sweet princess. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is a Rhodes Scholar.

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SUCHITRA SEN
(Adopting poet Jibanananda Dash's 'Bonolata Sen')

For many years I'd been seeing movies in sort of nickelodeons
Which were in old Dacca, namely Lion, Mukul and Shabistan
Where I saw many a movie, drowning in romances and rebellions.
I also saw foreign films in the theatres named Naaz and Gulistan;
My favourite heroines were Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Lauren
And, it goes without saying, her birthplace being Pabna, Suchitra Sen.

Her typical smile was in 'Sagarika' where she was enamoured.
She epitomised Bengal's artistry; though black and white did adorn
Her images, they gave the illusion of being vividly coloured.
While Uttamkumar, her partner in the duo, was acutely lovelorn,
That was when in his chest she let her face be hidden
With her bird-nestlike eyes closed. This was Pabna's Suchitra Sen.

Like the lost melody after the end of a song's duration
Evening falls; the earth makes yet another day expire.
Traffic-jams show the downfall of the selfish civilisation.
In the last wish someone burns in distant birthplace in funeral pyre.
Images float on the memory screen, life all around is anxiety laden;
But in the darkness glows a bright star named Suchitra Sen.

Masihuddin Shaker
Director, 'Surja Dighal Bari'
20.01.2014