Artistry and Indian Actors

Posted by Subhajit Ghosh on Saturday October 28, @07:29PM

We, Indians, are film addicts. Not unlikely, India is the largest film producing country in the world. Stars and actors/actresses are loved, worshipped and revered here as Gods and Goddess.

The other day I decided to make an assessment of our talented performers. Who are the Indian De Niros and Brandos? Starting from the beginning, an exceptionally stylish actor of the B & W era Hindi films was Motilal. He has inspired several top-notch actors including Amitabh Bachchan. Starting his career in the 30s, his last film CHOTI CHOTI BATEN (acted and directed by him) was released in 1964. Some of his memorable films includes MR SAMPATH, Bimol Roy's DEVDAS & PARAKH, JAGTE RAHO, ANARI and others.

Pramathesh Barua ( P. C. Barua) was a legendary actor/Director of b & w era. He is arguably the greatest actor/Director India has ever produced. He gave a memorable perfomance as 'Devdas' in the film based on the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel. His natural style of acting won him many admirers and the list of his memorable roles would include Mukti, Sesh Uttor, Adhikar, and several others.

And then came Balraj Sahani. An actor par excellence. His notable roles includes GARAM HAWA and DO BIGHA ZAMEEN. He also etched memorable portrayals in lesser known films like SEEMA, EK PHOOL DO MALI, LAJWANTI and others.

Balraj Sahani's contemporary, Raj Kapoor, was also a gifted actor. See his TEESRI KASAM and JAGTE RAHO and you're convinced of his acting prowess. AAG, ANDAZ, AWARA, ANARI, PHIR SUBAH HOGI and BARSAAT will further cement your conviction. No one could bring out simplicity more convincingly than Raj. You would simply fall in love with his simpleton portrayals. Raj's contemporaries like Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar also had some memorable portrayals.

Soon, two fine actors were seen making their mark -- Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Sanjeev is arguably the finest actor Indian cinema has ever seen. His awesome versatility and effortless acting was witnessed in films like KOSHISH, ANDHI, MAUSAM, NAUKAR, SHOLAY, SHATRANJ KE KHILARI and several others. Amitabh Bachchan, a versatile artiste and the greatest superstar seen on the Indian screen, has given us several moving perfomances in films like ANAND, RESHMA AUR SHERA, MILI, SHOLAY, AKHRI RASTA and DEWAAR, to name a few.

Parallelly, with the emergence of filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and others and their International conquest, several talented artistes from Bengali and other regional cinema started making an impact also. Actors like Soumitra Chaterjee, Uttam Kumar, Utpal Dutt and others who worked with these stalwarts got an oppurtunity to showcase their talent and win due applause. Soumitra Chaterjee was the favourite actor of film maestro Satyajit Ray. His perfomances in Ray films and also in those of Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, Raja Sen and others have demonstrated his versatility. Some of his memorable roles will include ABHIJAN, GHARE BAIRE, APUR SANSAR, AKASH KUSUM, ATANKA, KONI and others.

Uttam Kumar was one artiste who single handedly carried the Bengali film Industry on his broad shoulders. His perfomance in the Satyajit Ray film NAYAK was widely appreciated, and fetched him several International recognition. DHANRAJ TAMANG, SAGINA MAHATO, JATUGRIHO, KHOKABABUR PROTABORTON, JHINDER BANDI are some of his notable roles. He demonstrated his comic talent in CHHODOBESI, a Bengali film which was remade in Hindi as CHUPKE CHUPKE by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Utpal Dutt was another exceptionally talented actor, who could enact any characters with perfection. His incredible versatility was witnessed in his perfomances in films like BHUVAN SHOME, JANA ARANYA, GOLMAAL, JOY BABA FELUNATH, PADMA NADIR MAJHI, AGUNTUK and many others. Bikash Roy was another talent and his mind-blowing perfomances in Bengali films like BIYALLISH, ARAGYA NIKETAN or his restrained perfomance in Mrinal Sen's NEEL AKASER NEECHEY or Asit Sen's UTTAR FALGUNI demonstrated his acting prowess.

With the emergence of a parallel cinema in Hindi, artiste like Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah came to the fore. Om Puri's first role in AAKROSH as a mute character who finally revolts was unforgettable. He has to his credit numerous good perfomances, especially in the films of Gobind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal. ARDH SATYA, CHOKH, SUSMAN, DROHOKAAL, CITY OF JOY, SADGATI, JANE BHI DO YAARON, MUHAFIZ, GENESIS are but a few in a line of knockout perfomances. His TV role KAKAJI KAHIN showed his flair for comedy. And his latest, EAST IS EAST is an International hit. Naseeruddin is another talented artiste of art films who have drifted to mainstream films in recent times. His perfomances in PAAR, PESTONJI, MANDI, AKROSH, KHANDAHAR, JANE BHI DO YAARON, EK GHAR and MASOOM is a testimony to his amazing range.

Outside the orbit of parallel cinema, Kamalhassan is an actor par excellence. His zeal to try something new with every film of his gave us such perfomances from him in SADMA, SAAGAR, APPU RAJA, NAYAKAN, EK DUJHE KE LIYE and many more. And then there is Nana. Nana Patekar, the actor with an intense face and amazing body language has fitted into all sorts of roles like a hand in a glove. From the rough-and-ready unemployed young man in ANKUSH to the cool and cocksure detective with a Poirot-like moustache in TARKEIB, he has done a gamut of offbeat characters, each memorable for the energy and sensitivity that went into bringing it alive.

Besides these, there have been artistes like Anant Nag, Indra Baniya, Anil Chaterjee, Amol Palekar, Victor Banerjee, Bishnu Khargoria, Pankaj Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Mohan Gokhale, Anjan Dutt, Mohanlal and many others who are also highly talented.