Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 14, 2018)

Today, as Biswajit Chatterjee, the guitar-strumming desi Elvis of the ’60s, turns 80, memories of past birthdays bring a smile to his face. The veteran actor recalls his mother before her untimely death when he was 13, feeding him payesh (rice pudding), a tradition his wife Ira continues, along with a morning visit to the temple. “This is the one day in the year when I’m allowed my favourite dishes, from mishti pulao and mutton to prawn malai curry and steamed hilsa,” he laughs.

He recounts how five-six years ago, his daughter, Prima, broke the routine of quiet dinners, to host a surprise birthday party for him. “After the evening cake cutting, she invited me for a stroll in the terrace where I found a 100 friends waiting. DJs, music and dance, we had a blast,” he beams.

Parties have been the norm since childhood and grew bigger and more boisterous when he entered the film industry. “After the mandatory cake-cutting on the set, the director would let me off early, joining me with the team at the party later in the evening, along with top stars like Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra,” he narrates, flashbacking to an outdoor in Kullu Manali when Maryada stars Rajesh Khanna and Raaj Kumar, joined Manmohan Desai’s Shararat unit for the celebrations. “Fresh trout was on the menu and the party went on almost all night,” he says.

Biswajit misses this camaraderie today as he recalls cricket matches during the Kodaikanal outoors of April Fool, Sanjeev Kumar coming to actor Manmohan’s home where they met for lunch every Sunday with a tiffin carrier of mom-made dhoklas for him, Raakhee cooking fish for the Saaheb unit while Sandhya Roy and Supriya Devi did the same in Bengal.

He made his debut on stage in Kolkata, playing a junior artiste in Maya Mriga, in which he had just one line of dialogue. Two plays later, he landed the romantic lead in Maya Mriga when it was turned into a film “and I became a hero from zero.”

Soon after Biswajit landed the role of Bhootnath in the theatrical production of Saheb Bibi Golam and was coached by Uttam Kumar who had played the character in the Bengali film version. Guru Dutt who was planning his own Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam in Hindi at the time, turned up for one of the shows with wife Geeta and writer-friend Abrar Alvi who went on to direct his film. After a dinner with his Guruda at the Grand Hotel, Biswajit flew down to Mumbai where the filmmaker introduced him to the film’s leading ladies, Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rehman, and cinematographer, V K Murthy, as the hero. But wary of signing an exclusive five-year contract with Guru Dutt Films so early in his career, Biswajit eventually turned down the offer. Guru Dutt himself played the role later. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam opened in 1962, 11 months after Hemant Kumar’s suspense drama, Bees Saal Baad, which launched Biswajit opposite Waheeda. “I could live my dream of becoming a pan-India actor rather than remain a regional star because the owners of Rang Mahal Theatre, Hemant and Nalin Banerjee and Jatin Bose, tore up the agreement I had signed with them and let me take off to Mumbai despite the play packing full houses two weeks in advance. A month-and-a-half after I left, it shut down,” he informs, indebted to his mentors.

In Bollywood, he first became popular as the ‘suspense hero from Bengal’ with films like Bees Saal Baad, Kohra and Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, then turned a musical star with Shararat, April Fool and Kismat . He dabbled with the occasional socials— Asara and Do Kaliyaan—and costume fantasies like Do Dil . “I also played Ram to Moushumi’s (Chatterjee) Sita and Prem Nath’s Raavan in Bajrangbali. My producers begged me not to do it, saying it would turn me into a mythological hero like Trilok Kapoor and Shahu Modak. But I was from the stage and didn’t want to get typecast. I wanted to prove my versatility in diverse roles. I had started out with Kansa, and become the most popular Krishna in Bengal, nothing frightened me,” he asserts.

Few know that Biswajit’s Bengali film Dada Thakur bagged the National Award for Best Feature Film in 1963. “Later, I was nominated for the National Award for a deglam role in Tarun Majumdar’s 1969 film Rahgir ,” he says, recalling Gulzar’s beautiful songs, including “Janam Se Banjara Hoon, Bandhu”.

He has to his credit some of the best songs, but while Biswajit sang for Bengali films and recorded for a Durga Puja album every year, with one exception, Do Shikari’s “Aye Dil Meri Jaan” for Chitragupta, he refused to give his own playback in Bollywood. “Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi were far better singers and I knew they would make the songs bigger hits. I’d come to Mumbai to be an actor, not a singer,” he avers.

Today, the octogenarian sings frequently at Biswajit live shows across India and abroad. “I had a show in Kolkata this September as part of my golden jubilee celebrations, I sang seven-eight songs. But I haven’t moved there as many believe. Mumbai’s been home since ’62. Everywhere I go, there are requests for 'Bekaraar Karke Hamein Yun Na Jaiyye' and 'Pukarta Chala Hoon Main.' Times change but the magic of movies and its melodies never fades,” he signs off.


Biswajit celebrating his birthday with Sanjeev Kumar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee; With daughter Prima last year