Remembering Soumitra Chatterjee

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What can one say about a doyen and a Kimbadonti (meaning legend in Bengali) of Bengali film industry. His death is perhaps another reason for people like us to look back at the simplicity and the greatness attached to a legacy of Soumitra and his work. 

Regional cinema in India have had their share of legends often defined by the fan base and the legacy of work. In the south most often legacy is defined by the fan base who often have taken the memories and the trivia associated with the star to an all new level. MGR was one such legacy. The living legend now, Rajnikant is another who continues to inspire a generation. In Bengal, one had Uttam Kumar whose sudden and untimely death had brought the whole state to a halt. Uttam Kumar had the charisma, spontaneity and the screen presence which till today remains unparalleled. 

And that is where the contrast of Soumitra Chatterjee lay. He was often compared to the legacy of Uttam Kumar and the media/fans and everybody tried to bring in a sense of rivalry between the two. But, they had their niches and it would be wrong and unfair to compare the two. It actually took the genius of Ray (Satyajit Ray) to understand both the stars. His selection of Uttam Kumar for the titular classic Nayak (a movie about showmanship, star, their qualities and their aura) is a case in point and the fact that he chose Soumitra for 14 of his films is another case in point. And it might therefore be wise to rest the matter here. Ray interestingly casted both of them in detective roles; the former for a role whose character he did not write (Byomkesh in Chiriyaghar) and the latter of course for a character he wrote on to be a part of foklore (Feluda). 

For me personally though Soumitra and his legacy lives in the character Feluda. There are many many roles he has gone onto play but his portrayal of Feluda remains iconic in every sense. Purists for a long time did not consider the Feluda series of Ray in his serious work. But that would be wrong and unfair on their part. The series when written by Ray was for children apparently. On hindsight one must also remember that every single (well almost all: https://thegrowlery2014.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/the-great-bengali-detectives-part-1/) Bengali writer have created and written a detective noir. And Ray was not the one to miss it. Feluda went on to become iconic character; perhaps a lot of it got help from the two films that Ray shot (Shonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath). And as the genius of Ray dwelled on the casting for the role; Soumitra as Feluda, Santosh Datta as Jatayu (in a role of a lifetime) and Siddhartha Chatterjee as Topshe; the same has never matched by anybody since including his son Sandip Ray. 

Coming back to Soumitra and the Feluda role he played which demanded a quiet and diminutive restrain and there was no better to play that, than Soumitra. He had displayed that quiet struggle in his debut role in Apur Sansar and in Feluda he was the quiet and intense detective who had only weapon against all enemies; Magajastra (meaning the power of brain). Soumitra unlike Uttam Kumar was a rehearsed and planned actor who never left anything to chance. Much like the Stanislavik's system of acting. Finally, what you will see on screen will be a lot of back work that the character goes through. That made Soumitra look so effortless on the screen. Moments of Feluda that stands out for which Soumitra will always be missed; his restrained anger when meeting Maghanlal Meghraj for the first time in Joy Baba Felunath; his eureka moment when in Sonar Kella he is able to identify the real and the fake Dr. Hazra through the signature on the visitor book and finally, his moments with the young Ruku (aka Captain Spark) in Joy Baba Felunath. Each an amazing illustration of restrained performance and yet there is so much to it. 

There is only one line that sums up the moment after the demise of the octogenarian. Bhalo lagche na re Topshe (Feluda affcinado will relate to it)!

Joy Baba Felunath is on Zee5. And Shonar Kella on Youtube! Go watch.           

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