From September 3, the Nehru Children’s Museum will transform into a shrine for Bengal’s greatest cinematic idol. Shudhui Uttam, a five-day exhibition organised by Kolkata Kathokata, opens its doors with the promise of bringing Uttam Kumar, noted as the beloved Mahanayak of Bengali cinema, not just back on screen, but into the intimate corners of memory.
Uttam Kumar Exhibition: What Should You Expect?
The curtain of the Uttam Kumar exhibition will rise with a touch of nostalgia: Sabitri Chattopadhyay, the veteran actress who shared countless frames with the star, will inaugurate the show. She will be joined by Lily Chakraborty, Chirajit Chakraborty and other colleagues who knew the Mahanayak beyond the silver screen. After her recollections of their legendary partnership, the audience will settle in for a screening of Har Mana Har. This will serve as a reminder of why their chemistry still glows decades later.
The exhibition itself is as personal as it is grand. It contains not just classic posters and publicity stills, but fragments of a life: Uttam Kumar’s spectacles, his handwritten notes, theatre playbills, and even his very first contract for Drishtidan (1948). Diaries and letters, long kept away in family trunks, will finally see the light of day.
Beyond Bengal, Shudhui Uttam also gestures outward. His 1967 visit to Russia, his appearances in international publications, and his role as India’s cultural ambassador at the 1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival in London all find space here. One of the rarest treasures is a 1959 photograph from the Metro Cinema premiere of The Perfect Gentleman, a snapshot of a star stepping into global recognition. The curators even revisit the 1980 Senate House exhibition held shortly after his passing, bridging the decades of remembrance.
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Film buffs will linger at the walls lined with posters, lobby cards and stills: Saptapadi, Chowringhee, Anthony Firingee, Nayak, Chiriakhana, Amanush, Sanyasi Raja, and Indrani. Each title marks not just a career milestone but a cultural pulse point. And then there are the candid photographs with Suchitra Sen, Supriya Devi, Sabitri Chattopadhyay, Anjana Bhowmick, and Aparna Sen. These images tell the story of a golden era when Bengali cinema was both elegant and electric.
The project is stitched together from many hands and hearts: the families of filmmakers Haran Chattopadhyay, Manju Dey Ray, Sushil Mukhopadhyay, Ashim Kumar and Mrinal Mukherjee; collectors like Subir Mukhopadhyay, Shibnath Mukhopadhyay, Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya and Soumitra Bhattacharya. Support has also poured in across borders, from Bangladesh’s Mahanagar Sangbad, the India-Bangladesh Sammilita Sangskritik Parishad, to photographs by Satyanarayan Ray.
Where: Nehru Children’s Museum, 94/1, Chowringhee Road (Jawaharlal Nehru Rd.), Kolkata
When: September 3 to 7, 2025
Cost: ₹20 per person
For scholars, it is an archive; for admirers, it is nostalgia; but for Kolkata, it is something more! It is a cultural homage to a man whose rise embodied the hope and glamour of post-Independence Bengal. Shudhui Uttam runs from September 3 to 7, 2025, reminding us why the Mahanayak still refuses to fade into history.
Cover Image Courtesy: aboybarman/CanvaPro and harendranathchattopadhyayproductions/Wikipedia
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