Absence of mobile phones and social media, unheard of then, could not come in the way of spreading the news of the end of a man who was till the other day part and parcel of Bengali life. The manifestation of grief was spontaneous.

Many kitchen fires remained unlit. As a mark of respect, flags were lowered by all clubs in the maidan, the green verge of the city, where the late matinee idol had enacted a few memorable scenes in one of his many memorable hits, Saptapadi.

Strangers elbowed their way into the roofs and balconies lining the route of the hero's cortege, a truck carrying his mortal remains together with a large number of Kumar's co-actors, teary eyed all, jostling for space. Seeking a last view, many of his fans were perched dangerously on different parts of cranes which had made their way into the city for Metro Railway construction.

There was every reason for the mass mourning. The families idolizing Uttam Kumar searched for the traits he portrayed on screen in sons, nephews, neighbours and of course husbands and lovers.

The broad spectrum of characters Uttam Kumar portrayed on screen in his career of more than three decades was so life like that the men. whose professions were focused on ,instantly identified with the actor. It marked the transformation of the man from a mere actor to a popular hero, (nayak) and thereafter to a super star Mahanayak.

There was a sincerity in Uttam Kumar's portrayal of every character. Not one smile or gesture was out of place, be it a college student ( Sare Chhuattor), a tough on the run with his booty (Kuhak), an upright doctor who places service above self (Agnishwar) a simple minded peasant (Chapadangar Bou), a journalist (Memsabeb) a policeman (Thana theke aschi) and the boss of a crime syndicate (Banhisikha); one tends to lose count.

Born at his maternal uncle's home in Ahiritola in 1926 and brought up in his father's house in Bhowanipore, Uttam Kumar, officially Arun Kumar ,epitomised the values and mannerisms of the Bengali middle class. Young men and women of a newly independent nation still struggling against the fallout of partition saw their despair and aspirations finding expression in his performances on screen.

And Uttam Kumar kept abreast of the taste, culture and mood of successive generation of youth who continued to flock to his films and keep the cash register ringing. And as age began to catch up with him, the matinee idol switched on to roles portraying characters who sported salt and pepper hair and a waistline no longer lean..

And the script saw to it that the action revolved around Uttam Kumar. The generations who had grown up watching him as a young man did not shy away from the theatres when they found him in roles in keeping with his age.

Even if Uttam Kumar was not the thinking man's hero( this honour went to Soumitra Chattopadhayay), he was a thinking man. Otherwise, had he continued with the character roles he started his career with, he would have been in a rut.

The films portraying Uttam as a hero who is a handsome young man with a smile that turned foes into friends were hits. But they did not enrich his oeuvre.

Unlike many of his contemporaries in what was then called the Bombay filmdom, Uttam Kumar lost no time in changing tack. A Peter Pan complex was never a part of his mental makeup..

The corporate head honcho with a memory loss of Harano Sur was as different as chalk is to cheese from the fast-with-his-fists orphan brought up in the hard school of life in Roudrachaya. It has been a long journey whose end saw Uttam Kumar emerge intact as the leading star of Bengali films.

In the course of his journey, Uttam Kumar had to think on his feet to negotiate unexpected speed breakers to his ego. A producer approached him diffidently saying "Mrs Sen, (as Suchitra Sen was reverentially addressed in Bengali film industry) wants her name on top of yours on the bill boards"

"Do it by all mean" chirped the matinee idol. "The crowds come to see her" he added, so sure was he of himself.

Suchhitra and Uttam films are inarguably the most successful Bengali movies to hit the screen. Though the storyline was based mostly on the much hackneyed boy meets girl, boy loses girl and regains her, the screen play, dialogue delivery, songs and direction (not quite in that order) in almost every one was a resounding success at the box office.

Paired with Arundhati Mukherjee, Supriya Choudhuri, Madhabi Mukherjee, Aparna Sen and Kaberi Bose, Uttam Kumar put up some of his cerebral performances. Pitted against Soumitra Chattopadhayay, the duo's histrionics lit up the screen in Jhinder Bandi and Stree are anything to go by.

Yet for all his talent, charm and charisma, Uttam Kumar would not have reached the heights he attained sans his portrayal of Nayak. Directed by Satyajit Ray, the Midas-touch hero found himself enacting his own life.

It was a portrayal of the climb of a young man from the pits to the zenith of an acting career. Nayak was a narration in celluloid of Uttam Kumar's life and career which could have been scripted only by Ray.

Both the great director and the heart throb hero were at the peak of their careers when Nayak was filmed. Though Soumitra was a natural choice in Ray films, the maestro choosing Uttam is a pointer to his unerring choice of an actor who would step into the role effortlessly.

Even though he had just recovered from chicken pox and had marks on his face, acceding to Ray's request, Uttam dispensed with makeup. The rest is history. Addressing Uttam Kumar's condolence meeting, Ray said he had detected a few shortcomings in his direction in Nayak. But Uttam's acting was flawless, he said.

At the dictate of the culture czar of the then dispensation in West Bengal, the mortal remains of Uttam Kumar were not allowed to be kept in state at the foyer of Rabindra Sadan, a state owned prestigious auditorium. His films did not highlight the suffering of the masses, it was reported to have been stated in justification.

It does not matter as the act only demeaned the man who had ordered it. As long as. Bengali movies are made and screened, Uttam Kumar will continue to dazzle a testament to his 'star quality" in life and beyond. (IPA Service)