Celebrity Biographies
Soumitra Chatterjee
Not only was he Apu as an adult in “The World of Apu”, but he accumulated two hundred titles throughout his six-decade career. Indian film star Soumitra Chatterjee has died at the age of 85 in Kolkata hospital in West Bengal, according to his daughter Poulame Bose. In October he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Born on January 19, 1935, in Calcula, his father – a lawyer – was part of an amateur theater group like his grandfather, who instilled in him his passion for acting. He studied Bengali literature at the University of Calcutta. Subsequently, he began his career working at All India Radio as an announcer, and when he was 24 years old he auditioned for Satyajit Ray , the most important filmmaker in his country, who chose him to play his best-known creation, Apu, as an adult. , in The World of Apu , the third and last film about the character.
He was so happy with him that he made him his fetish actor, recruiting him again for thirteen other films, including Abhijan ( The Expedition) , Charulata ( The Lonely Wife ) , Aranyer Din Ratri ( Days and Nights in the Forest ) , Ashani Sanket (Far Thunder ) , Sonar Kella ( The Fortress ) , Joi Baba Felunath ( The Elephant God ) , Hirak Rajar Deshe , Ghare Baire ( Home and the World ) , Shakha Proshakha and Ganashatru . Soumitra Chatterjee married Deepa Chatterjee , an occasional title actress like Durga, with whom he had two children.
Become a cultural icon for his work with Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee also collaborated with other Indian filmmakers including Mrinal Sen in Akash Kusum (Up in the Clouds), Tapan Sinha in Kshudhita Pashan (Hungry Stones), Asit Sen in Swaralipi , Ajoy Kar, in Otol Joler Ahoban and Tarun Mazumdar in Sansar Simante and Ganadevata . He always stayed away from the more commercial Bollywood cinema. Until his retirement in 2016, he also had time to devote himself to the theater.
In 2012, the actor received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema bestowed by the Government of India for lifetime achievement. He won two National Film Awards and received the Sangeet Natak Scholar Award in 1998 from the Indian National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.