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1991. Aurora Film Studio of Kolkata. Art director Nitish Roy was busy in shooting of his directorial debut EK PASLA BRISTI. Soumitra Chatterjee was playing the major role in that film. I was there to cover the shooting for an Assamese journal BISMOI and that was my first meeting with Soumitrada.
I always wanted to see Dada receiving the prestigious RAJAT KAMAL. “Dada , do you think that this time you will walk away with the ‘Rajat Kamal’ award for the Best Actor, for your work in ‘Sakha Prasakha’ ?
Soumitrada stared at me for a while and smiled a brief smile loaded with sadness.

2006. Perhaps Soumitrada has lost his all excitement for the award. After portraying central characters in 14 films by Satyajit Ray and many other noteworthy films, finally RAJAT KAMAL came to him. The film was “Padokhyep” by Suman Ghosh.
I called him up and congratulated him, with all humility he accepted my warm wishes, but I felt he was smiling with the same smile which I saw long 15 years back in Aurora studio make up room.

In a television interview, he went on to say that an award at this junction of his life and career did not have much to be excited or motivated about. But he has accepted the award only as a mark of respect and gratitude to his fans. When he went on to the stage to receive the National Award, a standing ovation was enough and obvious for everyone to understand that he was a significant personality of Indian cinema despite that his realm was confined to the precincts of regional cinema.

Soumitrada is always labelled as an actor of the Satyajit Ray as he portrayed most of the leading roles in Satyajit Ray’s film. I believe, Satyajit Ray has found himself in Soumitra.
But for us Soumitra is more than an actor. He is a poet who recollects emotion in tranquillity, excellent oratory and recitation (it was always an out of the world experience to have an opportunity to hear him recite innumerable Bengali poems , particularly poems of Jeevanananda’s BANALATA SEN ), dramatist and a writer of personal essay.

Soumitra believes that- ‘The perspective of life, its understanding, and association of oneself with it, is but what technically transforms an artisan to the calibre of an artist.’ Soumitra has blended imagination, dreams and beauty of life into a total package and has presented it upon the silver screen. His works leave behind an indelible mark on the innermost recesses of the heart and mind of his audience and establishes him not just as a Film actor, but a committed and devoted artist and performer who touches the heart and stirs the soul of an individual.

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