Soumitra Chatterjee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Soumitra Chatterjee
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|---|---|
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| Born |
Soumitra Chattopadhyay
16 June 1935 |
| Died | 15 November 2020 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Occupation | |
| Years active | 1959–2020 |
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Works
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Filmography |
| Spouse(s) |
Deepa Chatterjee
(m. 1960) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | |
Soumitra Chatterjee (born January 19, 1935 – died November 15, 2020) was a famous Indian film actor, director, writer, and poet. Many people consider him one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema history. He was especially known for working with the director Satyajit Ray. They made fourteen films together.
Soumitra Chatterjee started his acting career in 1959 with the film Apur Sansar (The Family of Apu). This movie was the third part of The Apu Trilogy, where he played the adult Apu. He continued to work with Satyajit Ray on many other films. These included Charulata (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest, 1969), and Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder, 1973). He also played the detective Feluda in Sonar Kella (The Fortress of Gold, 1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1978).
He also worked with other important directors in Bengali cinema. Some of these directors were Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. Soumitra Chatterjee acted in more than 210 films during his long career. He also directed a film called Stree Ki Patra (1986), which was praised by critics.
Soumitra Chatterjee received many awards and honors. He was the first Indian film artist to get France's highest award for artists, the 'Commandeur' of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1999). He also received the Padma Bhushan (2004) from India and France's highest civilian award, the Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur (Commander of Legion of Honour) (2017). In 2012, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is India's top award in cinema for lifetime achievement.
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Early Life and His Journey to Acting
Soumitra Chatterjee was born in Calcutta in 1935. He spent his first ten years in Krishnanagar, a town known for its lively theatre scene. His grandfather was involved in a theatre group, and his father, a lawyer, also acted as a hobby. Soumitra loved acting in school plays and his interest in theatre grew.
His family later moved to Howrah and Calcutta. He studied Bengali literature at the City College, Kolkata and the University of Calcutta. While studying, he learned acting from the famous Bengali theatre actor-director Ahindra Choudhury. A big moment for him was seeing a play by Sisir Bhaduri, a legendary theatre director. This play inspired him to become an actor. He met Bhaduri and learned a lot from him until Bhaduri's death in 1959.
Soumitra started working as an announcer at All India Radio. During this time, he also tried to get into films. He met director Satyajit Ray when Ray was looking for new actors for his film Aparajito (1956). Ray thought Soumitra looked right for a role, but at 20, he was too old to play the young Apu. However, Ray remembered him and offered him the role of the adult Apu two years later.
Soumitra Chatterjee's Film Career
Working with Director Satyajit Ray
Soumitra Chatterjee visited the set of Satyajit Ray's film Jalsaghar (1958) to watch the filming. He didn't know that Ray had already chosen him for the main role in the Apu trilogy. Ray surprised him by introducing him to another actor as "This is Soumitra Chattopadhyay; he's playing Apu in my next film Apur Sansar." Soumitra was unsure about his acting career at first. But when the first scene of the film was shot perfectly in one take on August 9, 1958, he knew he had found his calling.
Soumitra Chatterjee and Satyajit Ray worked together on fourteen films. Their partnership was very special, much like other famous director-actor teams in film history. After Apur Sansar, he also worked with actress Sharmila Tagore in several of Ray's films.
Ray gave Soumitra many different kinds of roles. Some of Ray's stories were even written with Soumitra in mind. Soumitra played Feluda, a famous private investigator from Calcutta, in two of Ray's films: Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). He was the first actor to play this popular Bengali detective. Satyajit Ray even drew pictures of Feluda based on Soumitra's appearance for the Feluda books.
Other Important Film Roles
Besides his work with Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee also did great work with other well-known Bengali directors like Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. He was praised for his role in Mrinal Sen's Akash Kusum (1965). He also played a tough villain in Tapan Sinha's Jhinder Bandi (1961). In the romantic film Teen Bhubaner Pare (1969), he acted alongside actress Tanuja and was noted for his energetic acting style.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he started working with newer directors. He also acted on television. In 1986, he played a swimming coach named Khitish Singh in the film Kony. This film was about a young girl from a slum who wanted to become a swimmer. The film won an award for being a popular and wholesome entertainment film. Soumitra later said Kony was one of his best films. He even used the film's famous phrase, "Fight-Koni-fight," to encourage himself during tough times.
Soumitra Chatterjee's Theatre Work
After a busy career in films, Soumitra Chatterjee returned to theatre in 1978 with his play Naam Jiban. This led to many other plays where he acted, wrote, and directed. Some of his notable plays include Phera (1987) and Tiktiki (1995), which was based on the play Sleuth.
From 2010, he regularly performed in the play Raja Lear, which was based on William Shakespeare's King Lear. He received a lot of praise for his acting in this play. Besides acting, he also wrote and directed several plays, translated some, and performed poetry reading.
Awards and Special Recognition
Soumitra Chatterjee received many important awards. In 1999, he was given the 'Commandeur' Officier des Arts et Metiers, which is the highest award for arts from the French government. He also received a Lifetime Award at the Naples Film Festival in Italy.
In 2004, he accepted the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from the President of India. This is one of India's highest civilian honors. In 1998, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his work in theatre.
For many years, Soumitra Chatterjee did not win a National Film Award for acting, even though he was very famous. He felt that the awards often favored popular films over serious ones. Because of this, he turned down a Special Jury Award in 2001 for his film Dekha. However, after receiving the Padma Bhushan, he decided to accept awards to avoid disappointing his fans.
Later, in 2008, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role in Podokkhep (Footsteps) (2006). In 2012, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which is India's highest award for lifetime contribution to cinema. He also won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South in 1994.
- Some of his major awards include
- 1998: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
- 1999: Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France
- 2004: Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
- 2012: Dadasaheb Phalke Award
- 2017: Commandeur of Legion d'Honneur by the Government of France
His Creative Works
Soumitra Chatterjee was not only an actor but also a talented writer and poet. He wrote several books and poetry collections in Bengali.
- Books he wrote
- Charitrer Sandhane ("Search of Character"; 2004)
- Pratidin Taba Gatha ("You Sing Everyday"; 2009) - about Rabindranath Tagore
- Agrapathikera ("Pioneers"; 2010) - a memoir about his senior friends
- Manikdar Sange ("With Manik Da"; 2014) - about his journey with director Satyajit Ray
- Some of his poetry collections
- Śreshṭha Kabitā ("Best Poem", 1993)
- Madhyarater Sangket ("Midnight Signal"; 2012)
- Dramas he wrote
- Natak Samagra 1 ("Drama Collection 1"; 2015)
- Natak Samagra 2 ("Drama Collection 2"; 2017)
Illness and Passing
On October 5, 2020, Soumitra Chatterjee tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the hospital. Although he later tested negative for COVID-19, other health problems made his condition very serious. He was cared for by a team of doctors. Sadly, on November 15, 2020, Soumitra Chatterjee passed away due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 85.
See also
In Spanish: Soumitra Chatterjee para niños
- Parallel cinema
