19 Facts About Uttam Kumar

Uttam Kumar, widely known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema.

Uttam Kumar's career spanned three decades, from the late 1940s until his death in 1980.

Arun Uttam Kumar Chattopadhyay was born on 3 September 1926 at a maternal home in Ahiritola in northern Calcutta.

Uttam Kumar's father was Satkari Chattopadhyay and his mother was Chapla Devi.

The nickname "Uttam Kumar" was given to him by his maternal grandmother.

Uttam Kumar's family owned an amateur theatre group called Suhrid Samaj.

Uttam Kumar entered the film industry in 1947, appearing as an extra in the Hindi film Mayadore, which was never released.

Uttam Kumar's first released film was the 1948 film Drishtidan, directed by Nitin Bose and starring Asit Baran.

In 1952, Uttam Kumar had a supporting role in Basu Poribar, directed by Nirmal Dey, which was his first role to receive praise.

Satyajit Ray originally approached Uttam Kumar to appear in his film Ghare Baire, which he wrote in 1956.

Ray completed the film in 1984, after Uttam Kumar's death, casting Soumitra Chatterjee for the role.

Uttam Kumar collaborated with Ray for the first time in 1966 on the film Nayak.

In 1962, his friend, composer Hemant Uttam Kumar, offered him the lead role in a Hindi film titled Sharmili, directed by Biren Nag.

Sarkar's second film starring Uttam Kumar, Bandi, was a failure.

Uttam Kumar's appeared in another bilingual film directed by Samanta, Anand Ashram, a remake of the 1941 film Daktar, which starred Pankaj Mullick and Ahindra Choudhury.

In 1963, Uttam Kumar left his family home at Girish Mukherjee Road, Bhowanipur and stayed with Supriya for the next 17 years until his death.

Uttam Kumar was selected in 1976 to recite the Chandi Path in the All India Radio studios.

Uttam Kumar engaged in the Kolkata communal riots of 1946.

Uttam Kumar died at 9:35 in the evening of Thursday, 24 July 1980 at the age of 53.