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Uttam Kumar was "the" super star of Bengali cinema and the most popular Bengali film actor ever. Was born in 1926 to a middle class family in Calcutta. His original name was Arun Kumar Chatterjee. Passed Matriculation Examination from South Suburban School and got admitted into Goenka College. But, he could not complete graduation as he took a clerical job in Calcutta Port Commission.



His first released movie was Dristidaan directed by Nitin Bose and was released in 1948. Prior to this film, Uttam Kumar acted in a film named Mayador which was not completed. Uttam Kumar's first appearance with Suchitra Sen was in the comedy movie Saarey Chuattor in 1953. This film turned out to be a big hit. From that time onwards, the Uttam-Suchitra romantic duo produced a series of popular films throughout a period which is known as the golden age of commercial Bengali cinema. Uttam-Suchitra combination became a legendary and household name. Uttam Kumar's performance in Satyajit Ray's movie Nayak was remarkable. He starred in another Ray movie - Chiriakhana. Uttamkumar acted in a few Hindi movies. For a brief period, he also acted in professional theatre. In 1955, he took part in the drama Shyamali staged in Star Theatre. Uttam Kumar died in 1980 from heart attack at the age of 54.



from www.calcuttaweb.com