Dhanraj Tamang (Bengali Film / Regional Film / Indian Cinema DVD) [DVD]

About the Actor Uttam Kumar was a legendary Bengali actor. He is fondly called
the Mahanayak or the ""Great Hero"" of Bengali cinema. His original name was
Arun Kumar Chatterjee. He was born on 3 September 1926 at Ahiritola, North
Kolkata but was called 'Uttam' by his maternal grandmother. His huge joint
family had its own theatre group, Suhrid Samaj, which staged many amateur
shows within the community. No wonder then, Uttam Kumar was bitten by the
acting bug right from childhood itself. Besides acting, he was also into
sports and physical fitness. He took up wrestling, swimming, lathi-khela,
horse riding and tennis. In fact, he was the swimming champion at the
Bhowanipur Swimming Association three years in a row. His schooling started in
Chakraberia High School and later he shifted to South Subarban School. In
1936, young Arun with some of his friends founded a drama group named Lunar
Club. There he acted the first play of his life and it was Tagore's ""Mukut"".
At the age of 10, he won a trophy for acting in ""Gayasur"". In 1942, he
passed Matric and was admitted to the Government Commercial College. That was
the period of Swadesi Andolon, when Indians were struggling for freedom.
During that time, his compositions were heard in the morning rally. From a
young age he was a good singer. He started his vocal training under
Nidanbondhu Bandhopadhya. After his schooling he went for higher studies in
Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration, an affiliated college
of the University of Calcutta system. After graduation, the financial
condition of the family forced him to take up employment as a clerk at the
Port Commissioner's office. To supplement his salary, he also gave singing
lessons at a music school. He joined as a cashier in Port Commissioners'
Office at Kidderpore in 1944 and as a music teacher in Chakraberia High
School. During this period, he acted for amateur theater groups. Initially
Uttam Kumar followed the Kolkata theatre scene avidly but soon became
dissatisfied with the existing trend of theatrical acting and always aimed for
a more natural performance in his films. But his heart, mind and soul were
running towards one place- Tollygunge Studio. At last, he got s chance as an
extra, in the film ""Mayador"" which failed to release. Uttam's first released
film was Drishtidan (The gift of sight) directed by Nitin Bose. However his
breakthrough film was Sare Chuyattor (74 and a half) with a young actress
called Suchitra Sen. This romantic comedy launched the career of the greatest
romantic duo to grace the Bangla film industry. Uttam-Suchitra have ever
since, been a household name. He had been an actor, director and producer.
Apart from acting in two films with Satyajit Ray, Nayak and Chiriyakhana, a
thriller written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay in which he played the famous
Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi. He has acted in some Hindi films like
Chhoti si Mulaqat with Vyjayantimala Bali, Amanush with Sharmila Tagore,
Ananda Ashram with Sharmila Tagore, Kitaab and Dooriyan.