Death Anniversary Special! Soumitra Chattopadhyay beyond Satyajit Ray films

Soumitra Chatterjee’s debut in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Apur sansar’ as the eponymous, gentle hero won him international fame. The decades-long Ray-Chatterjee collaboration, in fact, ranks right up there with the best-known actor- director duos. His films with Ray are unarguably referred as the actor’s best. However, there are an equal number of other critically acclaimed films which are no less popular than the Ray films. Many of them even received cult status over the years. Here is an alternate list of some of the most popular non-Ray films in which the thespian’s work was a class apart.

Paran Bandopadhyay: Even without Ray films Soumitra Chattopadhyay would have been a significant figure

In this Mrinal Sen film about Ajay Sarkar, a young ambitious middle-class executive is longing to get ahead in life. Soumitra's turn that brought out the dichotomies of reality not staying true to aspiration, almost seemed like a middle-class confession. The actor built tension out of the duality of his character, one who was prone to romanticism even when the cruelties of life stared right back at him.

There has perhaps been no other actor in Bengali cinema who was so proficient in evoking the grammar of crisis with a measured vulnerability in the same vein as Soumitra Chatterjee. The actor’s only collaboration with Rituparno Ghosh resulted in a National Award-winning film, an underseen classic about the dynamics of an estranged father and daughter in the face of tragedy. It’s a film where the actor looks the most fearful he has ever been and yet knows the nooks and crannies by heart.

In Goutam Ghose’s most compelling film, Chatterjee essayed the central role of a once-renowned poet facing near blindness and struggling to find inspiration. It’s a performance that deserves more acclaim simply because of how much empathy Chatterjee brought to the role, despite the bitterness and indifference that defined his character.

One of the finest works of director Tapan Sinha, ‘Atanka’ is a gripping story of a teacher who was a witness to a murder. Based on a real-life incident, Soumitra Chattopadhyay played the aged teacher who witnessed a murder orchestrated by his own former students. The culprits later warn their once respected teacher of dire consequences that may destroy his family and he was threatened his life will be in danger if he reports the events. The film became a reality check as the story of this helpless teacher fighting hard to balance his conscience and truth set the tone of the gripping thriller. Finally, against all odds, he rediscovers his courage to get these goons to justice.

How can anyone forget Mayurbahon! Soumitra Chatterjee as the handsome Mayurbahon from Tapan Sinha’s 1961 hit 'Jhinder Bandi'. This film pitted the legendary Uttam Kumar against Soumitra. The former was enjoying a matinee God status at that time and the latter was slowly climbing his way to superstardom with great performances and spontaneity. And the rest is history! They simply created sheer magic in this remake of 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. Here Soumitra was the antagonist and to some extent overshadowed protagonist Uttam Kumar. After ‘Jhinder Bondi’, many even fell in love with an antagonist Mayurbahon more than the protagonist Shankar Singh.

Based on the novel by Moti Nandi, 'Kony' is a National Award winning Bengali classic which tells the story of an underprivileged young swimmer Kony, who stands tall against all odds challenging poverty, politics, social stigmas, and other barriers. 'Koni' also revolves around the struggle of Khidda (Soumitra Chatterjee), the swimming coach, who scouts the talented girl in a slum and guides her to win the National Swimming Championship. The movie is still considered as a perfect example of a coach and player relationship and of the best performances by Soumitra Chatterjee.

This Ashutosh Bandyopadhyay classic portrayed Soumitra from a different perspective. Initially his character is shown as a loafer – singing and dancing on the streets teasing girls. Next, he becomes the gentle lover who rebuilds his image for his unconditional love for Tanuja. To add the cherry on top, ‘Teen Bhubaner Parey’ has some memorable songs like ‘Jibon e ki pabona’ and ‘Hoeto Tomari Jonno’.

A great family movie gives us so many learning experiences. It highlights the value of a relation and the bonding between family members. ‘Bela Seshe’ gave a serious message about how we depend on our family to lead a healthy and happy life. Who could have played the challenging role better than Soumitra Chatterjee. His presence made the Nandita Roy-Shibprasad Mukhopadhyay directorial a really special one.

With Soumitra Chatterjee's brilliant acting chops along with Prosenjit and the supporting cast's performances, this film has amazed many people not just in Bengal but all over the country. ‘Mayurakshi’ is about a father-son relationship affected by long distance and the events that follow when the son gives his 84-year-old father a surprise visit only to realise he is gradually slipping into dementia. Soumitra as the ageing father seemed to be the pillar of ‘Mayurakshi’s success.