Death of a Titan
People may be nostalgic about him as Apu or Feluda, the two characters which he has immortalized for the Bengali, historically. They may eternally link him to the maestro Satyajit Ray. Whenever the great Uttam Kumar is mentioned, he will also be remembered as the second-best Bengali matinee idol by many. But these are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg to describe or even relate to the total personality of Soumitra Chattopadhyay.
His death at the age of 85 is not a surprise. In fact, frankly speaking, in a way death has put an end to the agony he was facing over the last few weeks. But it was surely a great loss. A colossus has fallen, and from the cultural canvas of Bengalis, the brightest star is extinguished. He was not only an icon but became an institution himself. I have been a great fan of his and always marveled at the way he carried himself and focussed on his art forms in spite of age, generational changes, personal setbacks, and diseases.
A life spanning 85 years with 62 years of a continuous acting career in prominent roles has no doubt made him an icon for the Bengalis. He has himself become an institution. And like other stalwarts, his literature, be it drama, essays or poetry or his stage acting have all been relegated in the shadow of his image as a matinee idol. His popularity was enormous and he also earned huge respect from everyone around, not only for his seniority of age and experience but also for his intelligent mind.
Yet to me, he remains one of the most underrated personalities. Yes, I reiterate the word underrated. This may be due to his own choice of being enveloped within the confines of the Kolkata milieu. The truly Bengali bhadralok characteristic of shunning activities to market or promote himself may have given him the opportunity to dabble in his pursuits of reading, writing, recitation, and acting on the stage, in all of which he excelled as the top draw. But I believe the non-Bengali speaking people, including the world missed out on a really great actor. It was his choice to not venture into Bollywood or even Hollywood, where I'm sure he would have also made his mark.
For people like me, this is indeed the end of an era. After him, barring a few contemporary actors, there's no one with whom we can relate from those black and white days of Bengali cinema.
In his remembrance, I share this wonderful interview of his dating back to 2009 which gives us a peep and sums up his personality.
