27 Facts About Uttam Kumar

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 from Hooghly district of West Bengal and his mother was Chapla Devi.

Uttam Kumar's father was a film projectionist in Metro Cinema.

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

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

In 1955, Uttam Kumar appeared in musical blockbuster film Shapmochon, gave him star status.

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 1967, Uttam Kumar worked with Ray again in Chiriyakhana, in which he became the first actor to play the iconic Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi.

Uttam Kumar directed his first film, Sudhu Ekti Bochor in 1966.

In 1967, he worked on the iconic biographical film Anthony Firingee based on a Portuguese Folk Poet Hensman Anthony's life, where Uttam Kumar won National Award for Best Actor as first Indian actor the film become all-time blockbuster.

From 1976, Uttam Kumar's career slumped, despite he give some hit films like Banhisikha where he won his eighth and last BFJA Best Actor Award which was a record win at that time and Sei Chokh.

In 1982 a Hindi film, Desh Premee, was released in which Uttam Kumar worked in an important role.

Uttam Kumar's last released film in 1987 was a Hindi film called Mere Karam Mere Dharam where he appeared in a small role.

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.

Later Uttam Kumar remade his own production as Chhoti Si Mulaqat in 1967.

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 engaged in a relationship with the legendary actress Supriya Devi, and in 1963 they got married.

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

In 1973 in the iconic Bengali film Basanta Bilap actor Chinmoy Ray said a dialogue that Ekbar bolo Uttam Kumar mean Say one time I'm Uttam Kumar.

In 2022, a biopic of Kumar made named as Achena Uttam, starred the Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee.