Interviewing Soumitra Chatterjee

Soumitra Chatterjee is one of Bengal's most famous and versatile actors. Best-known for his roles in Satyajit Ray's legendary films, Chatterjee made his debut in 1959 with the classic Apur Sansar.




Interviewer: Congratulations on the National Award. I know you don't feel it has any value but as a fan, I must say that better late than never. And it doesn't matter what film it is.

Soumitra Chatterjee: Besides, at my age it hardly matters what I get. It is much more important that people who have loved me, tolerated me and nurtured me with their love for 50 years are happy that I am being decorated or whatever you wish to call it.

Interviewer: If you let us peek into your mind, it makes no difference whether you have it (the award) or not?

Soumitra Chatterjee: Not really. Because I have long since lost all interest in these awards because they have so often been given to someone who does not deserve it or to someone who isn't really worth naming. It's not attitude or ego problem, it is simple, reasonable thinking. I feel I have worked in 14 of Mr (Satyajit) Ray's films and I was not considered to be the best actor in any one of them. (laughs)

Interviewer: It's a bit of a joke. You are right.

Soumitra Chatterjee: Yes, it's a joke.

Interviewer: You made your debut as an actor with Satyajit Ray, right?

Soumitra Chatterjee: That's where it all started.

Interviewer: I believe you went for screen test in 1956 for a devotional film and got rejected.

Soumitra Chatterjee: How do you know that?

Interviewer: I did some amount of homework.

Soumitra Chatterjee: Yes, it was some kind of a devotional film. I too have forgotten the name...

Interviewer: Neela Chole Mahaprabhu

Soumitra Chatterjee: Yes! That's right. I was given a screen test and was found not suitable...

Interviewer: Thank God!

Soumitra Chatterjee: Yes, thank God. I was very closely associated with the great Shishir Kumar Bhaduri and so it was almost pre-destined that i should be an actor. I made up my mind when I was doing my graduation. But to be very frank, I never thought I would be a very famous filmstar. In fact, before witnessing the revolutionary change in Indian cinema with Pather Panchali, we had a snobbish kind of disdain for cinema. I did not like the Bengali cinema of those days although I was an avid cinema fan.

Interviewer: In fact, your mentor, Shishir Kumar Bhaduri, was offered a role by Satyajit Ray in Mahanagar and he turned it down saying - and I am quoting him - 'In films, the actor doesn't act, only the director does'.

Soumitra Chatterjee: Yes, that was his idea.

Interviewer: So you don't agree with him on this count, I am sure.

Soumitra Chatterjee: Not totally. It's ultimately the director with whom lies the responsibility of making the film. He is the captain of the ship. But he needs so many other people. And in a work like this where strange kind of alchemies come up, where the star may be the greatest factor in the film. Generally speaking, it's the director to whom the film belongs. That I agree with.

Interviewer: I don't know if it's a fair question but in the body of work that you've done with Satyajit Ray, how much do you think you contributed to those films? Would be able to put a percentage to it?

Soumitra Chatterjee: No. I have never thought of it that way. But certainly, I have contributed many times. It was a collaboration - my work and his work. Had the director not been a great artist like Satyajit Ray, I wouldn't have been able to perform as well.

Interviewer: What's your sharpest memory of shooting for Apu Sansar which is where your film career began?

Soumitra Chatterjee: There are quite a few. I must say the first day's shooting. After I was selected by Satyajit Ray, I was plagued with a lack of confidence in myself, particularly about my looks...

Interviewer: One second, you thought you were not good looking?

Soumitra Chatterjee: At least not so photogenic.

Interviewer: What are you saying? We have grown up believing you are one the best-looking men around.

Soumitra Chatterjee: I have been told that quite a few times later but before I joined films, I grew up in a family where there were a number of very good-looking persons and I was considered an ugly duckling. So I grew up with an inferiority complex. But it helped me in my acting. I thought since I am not so good looking and photogenic, it's the director's and cameraman's headache. I will not think of my looks. I will concentrate on what I have been given to do -- acting. So, that sort of took away a lot of self-conscious time for a beginner and his headache with the camera. The first day of shoot was August 9, 1958. We were taken to a location where Apu was looking for a job and is shown a labelling and bottling factory where people are working like machines. He can't just accept the fact that he'll have to be one of them. So, the first day, the very first shot was an okay shot. There was hardly any trouble for me the first day and I thought I had found my vocation. This is the place where I belong and I should be here for the rest of my life.

Soumitra Chatterjee in a new role

The great actor, theatre personality, poet, recitation persona, film activist Soumitra Chatterjee has, at last, decided to have ‘a stint in Bengali yatra’, a conventional form open theatre more popular in the agrarian belt of Bengal. Before him, many film stars did join ‘yatra’ for lucrative payment and huge financial yield. Those who earlier had joined this crude form of traditional yatras include Supriya Choudhury, Moon Moon Sen, Anup Kumar, Sontu Mukherjee, Indrani Halder and Rupa Ganguly and many eminent film artistes during a lean season of Bengali cinema. Incidentally, it should be mentioned Soumitra Chatterjee was recently honoured with the ‘life-time achievement’ award floated in the name of Satyajit Ray bestowed upon by the Cine Central Calcutta, the largest film society of India. Following this, he too was bestowed with honorary D’lit from Kalyani University, a rare honour for Ray’s ‘one-man-stock company’. An autopsy reveals there is not a single tele film, tele serial and films in general which have not taken service of this actor. In the recent times, he had major roles in films like Dekha, Abaar Aranye, Paromiter Ek Din, Hemanter Pakhi, Amtyia Sajan and Asukh. While Dekha and Abaar Aranye are directed by Goutam Ghose, other films are directed by Aparna Sen, Urmi Chakraborty, Raja Sen and Rituparno Ghosh. He now has a new role, quite a different one, in the tele film Musalmanir Meye, directed by Nabyendu Chatterjee. It is gathered Soumitra will be playing his life-time character in this film to be shot in Bengali shortly. It is being produced by the National Film Development Corporation. Soumitra Chatterjee has also made himself ready with his new play to be staged on Kolkata theatre. His new play, Kurbani, is based on his own idea. Kurbani is basically a play with a theme on social values which the actor/ director feels is fast stooping so low. It tells the story of an honest police officer faced with rank corruption, official graft, social rot and decaying human values. He is the director of the new play. It goes without saying he has been playing both sides so well with cinema acting and theatre acting/ directing and he deserves all praise. However, his joining ‘yatra’ at this time of his life appears a little strange. Yet he feels “there is nothing wrong” in the move and he holds promise if he fails to show his magic performance, he would leave it immediately.

Works of Soumitra Chatterjee

Soumitra Chatterjee: another National Award casualty!

Following in the footsteps of filmmaker Gautam Ghosh, who has refused to accept the the National Award for Best Bengali Film, Dekha, thespian Soumitra Chatterjee today spurned the Special Jury Award for his role of a blind poet in the film. "For me, the award is meaningless. And I don't believe in portraying characters for getting awards. It is the appreciation of people which counts", says 68-year-old Chatterjee, who made his debut in Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar. "I have been aware of the lobbying surrounding the National Film Awards," he added. Asked whether he had intimated his decision to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Chatterjee shot back, "Why should I? Let them officially communicate to me and I will give a formal response." Chatterjee said, "I did not get any such award in India in the past. And I have been always opposed the practice of receiving such awards."

Stalwart of Bengali Films

Path traversed by Soumitro

Soumitra Chatterjee was born in January 19, 1935 and is a Bengali actor from India, most famous for his frequent collaborations with the great Indian director Satyajit Ray. Soumitra studied at the University of Calcutta, graduating with honours in Bengali literature. He has lived for a number of years in Calcutta in Satyajit Ray's old apartments. Soumitra's film debut came in 1959 in Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar. As noted on the official website for Ray, "At that time, Soumitra Chatterjee was a radio announcer and had only played a small role in a Bengali stage production". Soumitra would eventually collaborate with Ray on fourteen films. His centrality to Ray's work is akin to other key collaborations in the history of cinema - Mifune & Kurosawa, Mastroianni & Fellini, or De Niro & Scorsese. He also worked with Sharmila Tagore in a number of Ray films. Besides working with Ray, Soumitra excelled in collaborations with other well-known Bengali directors such as Mrinal Sen and Tapan Sinha. He played the role of Shekhar in the 1969 Ajoy Kar version of Parineeta. Soumitra has also been active in Bengali theatre as an actor, playwright and director. He is a well-known poetry reciter, and has acted on TV and in indigenous folk drama (jatra). Soumitra has received the 'Officier des Arts et Metiers', the highest award for arts given by the French government, and a lifetime achievement award from Italy. He turned down the honorary Padma Shri award from the Indian government in the seventies; more recently, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India. He has been the subject of a full-length documentary by French director Catherine Berge.

Soumitro's Film Clippings

Soumitro Chatterjee Profile

Saumitra Chatterjee is one of the most talented actors and probably the most acknowledged one internationally from Bengal. The later is due to his appearance in many of Satyajit Ray's movies. He is to the films of Satyajit Ray what Toshiro Mifune was to the films of Akira Kurosawa or Marcello Mastroianni to Federico Fellini. Saumitra appeared in 15 of the 34 films made by Ray.

Born in 1935, Saumitra graduated from Calcutta University with honors in literature. First appeared in film in 1959. It was 'Apu-r Sansar'(The World of Apu), the final film of Satyajit Ray's 'Apu Trilogy'. Saumitra acted in the role of a young man 'Apu' who experiences the turmoils of life. His work in this film gave him a distinct place in the heart of Bengali cine goers. This place was even more firmed when he portrayed the ever popular character of 'Feluda' in Ray's thriller 'Sonar Kella' in the seventies. Ray made three films based on the works of Tagore and incidentally Saumitra acted in all of them - 'Charulata', 'Samapti' (in 'Teen Kanya') and 'Ghare Baire'. Apart from Ray, he acted with other prominent film directors such as Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha etc. Saumitra displayed same level of excellence in regular commercial films as well as in parallel movies.

Other than film, Saumitra acts, writes and directs plays in Bengali theatre. Acted with legendary stage personalities like Sisir Kumar Bhaduri in the early days (role of 'Suresh' in 'Prafulla'). Saumitra reads and writes poetry and has a distinct place in the arena of Bengali poetry recitation. He also acts for television and in folk dramas ('jatra's).

Saumitra received the 'The Officier des Arts et Metiers', the highest award for arts from France, lifetime achievement award from Italy. He is probably the only Indian actor to have a full-length documentary devoted to him by any Westerner - French director Catherine Berge made a documentary film titled 'Tree' on his life. He refused 'Padmasree' from India Govt. in the seventies. Recently he was awarded with 'Padma Bhusan' by President of India. But the best award for him is probably the love and the legendary place in the heart of film lovers.