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Uttam Kumar’s tryst with Hindi Cinema
FirstpostSuch was the sway that Uttam Kumar had in Bollywood that filmmakers were tripping over one another to cast him his Bollywood debut. He was, and he remains, to Bengali cinema, the ultimate Superstar, the Mahanayak, so much so that in Shakti Samanta’s Amar Prem, the brief to Rajesh Khanna was, “Just copy Uttam Kumar from the original film ”. The film was a success and is remembered to this day for Uttam singing Shyamal Mitra’s hit compositions Dil aisa kisini mera toda and Na pooch koi humen zahar kyon pee raha hoon. The other Hindi film that Uttam Kumar agreed to do was Gulzar’s Kitaab, where Vidya Sinha and Master Rajoo had more to do than he did. Uttam Kumar’s last Hindi film, also the last film of his career, the little-seen whodunit Plot No 5, where the Mahanayak played a serial killer.
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