The close and steadfast friendship between Soumitra Chatterjee and Uttam Kumar

Soumitra wore his celebrity lightly. He tried to live a decidedly regular life. No starry airs or hang-ups, no desire to flaunt any movie-star flamboyance or throw his weight around. He did not even have a manager – the star answered his own phone calls when he could and responded to fan mail on handwritten postcards himself. Deepa would help out with his shooting schedules and certain other professional matters. No one ever saw a personal assistant or an entourage with him. He also followed a fairly casual policy with public appearances – he was often seen at the College Street Coffee House, buying books on Chowringhee, turning up at Nandan and other public places.

One important person in his life kept warning him about the perils of being excessively available to the public. This man knew a thing or two about managing public perception and how to portray a high-voltage movie-star image.

‘Don’t do this [wander around in public casually], it will diminish your glamour,’ Uttam Kumar had advised him repeatedly. Uttam and Soumitra’s so-called star rivalry was grist for the film media, but in reality they were close friends. And even though Soumitra had entered the profession seven years after Uttam, he...

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