One cannot be faulted if he/she contends that Uttam Kumar joined the immortals' ranks post his death. But the moot question remains how did he achieve it.

He burst into silver screen together with Suchitra Sen in Sare Chuattor as a balm to a partitioned state plagued by a flood of refugees and the problems of their well being and lack of it. His dramatic debut with success in his first hit film had the same element of surprise when he suffered a stroke during the shooting of Ogo Bodhu Sundari in July 1980 and passed away. He was then only 54 and in the prime of his career.

In life and death, Uttam Kumar basked in the adulation of the crowd cutting across generations. The city called Calcutta then stood still as it's residents often the women outnumbering the men poured into the streets to bade him their last farewell.

Be it the elderly matriach or the next door girl, an undergraduate student dreaming of becoming a filmmaker or the middle aged office goer and of course the leading .men and women of the Tollygunge film studios in the city as well as the faceless technicians who looked upon the deceased hero as their guardian ,walked in a procession. Amidst it, the mortal remains of Uttam Kumar on board a truck was the cynosure of all eyes.

Bedecked with garlands and with loving touches of sandalwood paste, the heart throb of Bengali cinema was going on his last journey. Absence of mobile phones and social media, unheard of then could not come in the way of the news of the tragedy spreading like wildfire.

Many of Kumar's fans not known for their physical fitness, climbed trees and perched dangerously atop cranes of the underground railway which was being built then. All they were seeking was a vantage point to have a last look at the man who had charmed them on the silver screen as a prince in Jhinder Bondi and the man on the street in Sabarmati.

Indeed Uttam Kumar personified different characters dear to every Bengali. He was a perfect matinee idol Arindam in Satyajit Ray’s Nayak and then a pro poor doctor in another film. His character in Saptapadi with Suchitra Sen as her heroine mesmerized the young generation in the last century.

No one could understand the angle of the camera on the film sets better than him. Never there was one in Bengali film fraternity who lived at the opposite end of complacency.

Uttam Kumar in life and death was a larger life persona than he was depicted in his films..For the roles he enacted had a core of realism with which his fans identified with.

He never type cast his performance. He could enact the suave hotel receptionist in Chowringhee, the gifted singer who takes up a car driver’s job basking in the admiration of Tanuja in her debut in Deya Newa or the hard drinking, womanizing zaminder in Stree.

And all the time he kept his stardom intact. In personal life, a perfect bhadralok who believed his "circle of friends", the dream boy of Bengali films went by his heart instead of his head.

This is in a nutshell why Uttam Kumar refused Raj Kapoor's offer to act in Sangam. Again it was his inability to see through the designs of his fair weather friends which led to the failure of Choti Si Mulaqat, his debut in Hindi films.

It was the darkest phase of his career when burden of debts almost brought him to his knees. If he repaid his creditors from the income from a spate of forgettable films, he suffered his first heart attack as a fallout of the strain.

His health never recovered but Uttam Kumar maintained it at an even keel. He continued to fetch a windfall for the producers.

Though Uttam Kumar made his presence felt in the Hindi film world with a bang post Amanush and Ananda Ashram, it was never a comeback trail. Post the failure of his debut in what was then Bombay, he had ceased to be the man synonymous with hits.

Arguably he added brownie points to his status as a thespian during this period. Remember Thana Theke Aschi, Nagar Darpan, Kalankito Nayak and of course Ami Shhe O Sakha and a lump rises in many throats at his absence.

One would not be wide off the mark to say that Uttam Kumar was denied his due honour on his passing as his mortal remains were not allowed to be rested for public viewing at the Rabindra Sadan foyer. The CPI(M) led government inn 1980 considered him not enough left friendly.

Uttam Kumar was an "instinctive actor". The secret of his success lies in the fact that he could get under the screen of the character without much prodding from the director. Film lovers in Bengal are preparing to observe his centenary next year in 2026. From this 45th death anniversary on Thursday, the preparations have started to pay due tribute to the cultural icon of Bengal who is gaining more and more popularity with the passing of days. (IPA Service)