Paperback, kindle, Hardcover, 320 pages First Published on Sep 30, 2021 by Bloomsbury Academic To buy the book, click on any of the links below Amazon.in Bloomsbury Barnes & Noble - US Waterstones - UK WHSmith - UK Booktopia - Australia Rakuten Kobo Batighar, Bangladesh Bookshop Goodreads Flipkart Bol, Netherlands Uttam Kumar – A Life in Cinema By Sayandeb Chowdhury ISBN NO: 9789390358854 / 9789390358014 There is none like Uttam and there will be no one to ever replace him. He was and he is unparalleled in Bengali, even Indian cinema. Satyajit Ray, Oscar-winning Indian Film Director Actor and screen icon Uttam Kumar (1926–1980) is a talismanic figure in Bengali public life. Breaking away from established codes of onscreen performance, he came to anchor an entire industry and led the efforts to reimagine popular cinema in the mid-20th-century Bengal. But there is pitifully less knowledge about Uttam Kumar in the learned circles—be it about his range of style and performance; the attractions and problems of his cinema; his roles as producer and patriarch of the industry; or his persona, stardom, and legacy. The first definitive cultural and critical biography of this larger-than-life figure, Uttam Kumar engages meaningfully with his life and his cinema, revealing the man, hero, and actor from various, often competing, vantages. The conceptual aim is to locate a star figure within a larger historical and cultural context and to enquire into how a towering image was mobilized for an ever-greater pursuit of wholesome, popular, even at times, radical and progressive entertainment. A complimentary métier of this work is to explore why and how this star persona would go on to reconstitute the bhadrolok Bengali visual and cultural world in the post-Partition period. But above all, this is the story of a clerk who became an actor, an actor who became a star, a star who became an icon, and an icon who became a legend. To download poster, click here Bloomsbury Academic Bloomsbury is a leading independent publishing house established in 1986. It has companies in London, New York, Sydney, and New Delhi. Launched in September 2012, Bloomsbury India upholds Bloomsbury Publishing’s tradition of publishing books of the highest quality in Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s, Academic, Business, and Education by both Indian and international authors. Reviews and Testimonials News on the Book | Published in Cinestaan | Jun 21, 2021 Author and film scholar Sayandeb Chowdhury has announced the release of his book Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema on Twitter. Published by Bloomsbury Academic, the volume will be launched next month.. ..... <Click here to read more> News on the book | Published in The Week | Jul 24, 2021 A new book on the life and times of matinee idol Uttam Kumar, who dominated Bengali cinema's commercial and cultural assets for close to three decades, will hit the stands next month, announced publishing house Bloomsbury India on the legendary actor's 41st death anniversary.. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in The Indian Express | Jul 24, 2021 If Bengali cinema had a face Uttam Kumar would be it. The auteur dominated the screen after he debuted in 1948. His easy charm, smile, and innate likability made him a cultural icon, earning him the moniker of ‘Mahanayak’. He passed away on July 24, 1980 at the age of 53. Much has been written about his life and films. Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema by Sayandeb Chowdhury, published by Bloomsbury, is an additive to the list.. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in Scroll.in | Jul 24, 2021 “Uttam is Uttam. I am delighted to be part of a function to honour him. I have seen most of his Bengali films. They are wonderful. Such mooch, Uttam Saab lajabab kalakar hai. (Truly Uttam Saab is an artist without a parallel.)” As rains lashed the beach outside, the words showered music on the ears of Uttam Kumar, who was in the audience as Dilip Kumar uttered those words.. ..... <Click here to read more> Book News in French | Published in nouvelles-du-monde.com | Jul 25, 2021 Un nouveau livre sur la vie et l’époque de l’idole du matin Uttam Kumar, qui a dominé les actifs commerciaux et culturels du cinéma bengali pendant près de trois décennies, sortira dans les stands le mois prochain, a annoncé la maison d’édition Bloomsbury India à l’occasion du 41e anniversaire de la mort de l’acteur légendaire.. ..... <Click here to read more> Book news in German | Published in https://allinfo.space/ | Jul 27, 2021 Ein neues Buch über das Leben und die Zeiten des Matinee-Idols Uttam Kumar, der fast drei Jahrzehnte lang das kommerzielle und kulturelle Vermögen des bengalischen Kinos dominierte, wird nächsten Monat auf die Tribünen kommen, kündigte der Verlag Bloomsbury India an zum 41. Todestag des legendären Schauspielers.. ..... <Click here to read more> Author interview | Published in The New Indian Express | Aug 15, 2021 A newly-released biography, titled, Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema (Bloomsbury) focuses on the actor’s colossal contribution to Indian cinema. Kumar won the first National Award for Best Actor in 1967 and was the only living person whose life was fictionalised by Satyajit Ray. Author Sayandeb Chowdhury, who teaches in the School of Letters at Ambedkar University Delhi, tells us more.. ..... <Click here to read more> Feature & Excerpt | Published in The Telegraph Online | Sep 3, 2021 Little did Uttam know that his stardom had stretched well beyond the limits of the city. This was in the early 1960s. It was an outdoor shoot at Jiaganj, an ancient riverine town about ten kilometres from Bengal’s medieval capital of Murshidabad. As a red herring, it was announced well in advance that Uttam Kumar was indisposed and was not travelling with the crew.. ..... <Click here to read more> Book Review | Published in Business Standard | Sep 23, 2021 This is a fascinating book on a movie icon who remains part of the collective consciousness of Bengalis all over the world even 40 years after his death. Biographies of super-achievers (mahanayak, in this case) often fail to go beyond felicitous homages, but Sayandeb Chowdhury, the author of Uttam Kumar: A life in Cinema, has gone off the beaten track. Result: A dispassionate assessment of a phenomenon called Kumar. ..... <Click here to read more> Feature | Published in getbengal.com | Oct 9, 2021 Not every Bengali will be on the streets this year pandal hopping, for there are many of us who love to spend a quiet Pujo, back home in the middle of books. GB recommends this particular book that features the man whose smile has swept generations off their feet. The man who dominated the silver screen after he debuted in 1948.. ..... <Click here to read more> Author Interview | Published in The Telegraph T2 | Oct 31, 2021 A courageous attempt to immortalise the life and times of actor Uttam Kumar by author and academic Sayandeb Chowdhury has resulted in a nuanced, emotional and lucidly written book, Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema (Bloomsbury; Rs 1,299). An assistant professor at Ambedkar University New Delhi, Chowdhury grew up on a steady diet of the hero’s films, as is natural in every Bengali household.. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in TheWire.in | Nov 7, 2021 f one reads Uttam’s interviews or his occasional columns; or manages to extricate an unguarded moment or two in the numerous profiles of him, one is immediately conscious of being in the company of a generous soul.. ..... <Click here to read more> Bilingual Interview (Bengali version) | Published in daakbangla.com | Dec 11, 2021 সায়নদেব চৌধুরীর প্রথম বই ‘Uttam Kumar: A Life In Cinema’। প্রায় দেড় দশকের চিন্তা, এবং ছয় বছরের কিছু বেশি গবেষণায় ঋদ্ধ এই লেখা। এই বইয়ে বাংলা সিনেমার প্রথম এবং শেষ মহাতারকার এমন এক চলচ্চিত্র-জীবন প্রকাশিত হয়েছে, যা এর আগে সম্ভবত কখনও এ ভাবে দেখা হয়নি, বিশ্লেষণ করা হয়নি ইতিহাসের পটভূমিকায়। কথোপকথনে সায়নদেব।. ..... <Click here to read more> Bilingual Interview (English version) | Published in daakbangla.com | Dec 11, 2021 What I was looking for, the new answers I was looking for – the modernity of his cinema, breakaway films, the difficulty placed on him as a star, the Atlas-like figure which is inevitably not good for a film culture – were really there in his films, not in any interview.' Sayandeb Chowdhury on his debut book, 'Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema'.. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in Cinestaan | Dec 13, 2021 Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema is not a chronological biography of the matinee idol; it sheds light on his work in the context of the history of the Bengali film industry.. ..... <Click here to read more> Review | Published in Inscript Me | Mar 2, 2022 প্যারাডাইস, নিউ এম্পায়ার, মেট্রো ছিল এককালীন কলকাতার এলিট ভদ্রলোকেদের একচেটিয়া। রমরমিয়ে কলকাতার বুকে তখন হলিউডের সিনেমা চলছে। বাংলা সিনেমাকে কে পোছে? সিনেমা ব্যাপারটাই খুব একটা আম পাবলিকের জন্য ছিল না। উপনিবেশের শিকড়ে জন্মগত আভিজাত্য নিয়েই সে এদেশে এসেছিল। কাজেই সরাসরি বিদেশি পুঁজিচালিত বড় বড় আন্তর্জাতিক প্রোডাকশন হাউসগুলিই মূলত ইংরেজি সিনেমা চালাত। অন্তত ১৯৫৩-র আগে অবধি তেমনটাই দেখা যাচ্ছে।. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in The Beacon | Jul 10, 2022 Satyajit Ray was not a man to go after cults. He had a recondite logic of understanding his world. Like other so-called cultural truisms to whom he rarely bowed, he did not share the general cynicism of the art-film fraternity about the plastic charms of a popular hero. Even if he did, in some cases, he was unwilling to reach the final verdict unless he tried them.. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in Film Companion | Jul 23, 2022 Bengal’s ultimate matinee idol passed away on July 24, 1980. A chapter from Sayandeb Chowdhury’s book recaps the day, and the tributes that followed. ..... <Click here to read more> Excerpt | Published in News9 | Jul 24, 2022 In the following excerpt from Sayandeb Chowdhury's book Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema, one can also learn more about the matinee idol's other side — where he, very subtly, slipped in (and often ridiculed) references to his stardom with utter modesty and humility. It was almost like him playing a meta-character both on and off-screen.. ..... <Click here to read more> Review in Bengali Press | Published in AnandaBazaar Patrika | Mar 9, 2022 মহানায়ক, কিন্তু তিনি স্বয়ম্ভু নন বিখ্যাত মানুষের জীবনী লেখা সহজ নয়। জীবনীলেখক এবং তাঁর উদ্দিষ্ট ব্যক্তিত্বের মধ্যে টানাপড়েন তৈরি হয় সেই ব্যক্তিত্বের সাফল্য-ব্যর্থতা, খ্যাতি-অখ্যাতি, নিন্দা-প্রশংসাকে ঘিরে। শেষ বিচারে জীবনী একটি পুনর্গঠন, যা সংজ্ঞা অনুসারেই কৃত্রিম। সেই কৃত্রিমতা মেনে নিয়েই লেখক চাইবেন, যেন তাঁর পুনর্গঠনটি এক জন মানুষের জীবন আর কৃতিকে ঠিকমতো তুলে ধরতে পারে। তাঁকে সতর্ক থাকতে হয়, যাতে কাজটি পোস্ট ট্রুথ নির্মাণের রাজনীতিতে জড়িয়ে না পড়ে।. ..... <Click here to read more> Book Review in Bengali Press | Published in Desh Magazine | Apr 17, 2023 মহানায়কের সাংস্কৃতিক জীবনী মানস ঘোষ আলোচ্য বইটির একটি শক্তিশালী জায়গা গত শতাব্দীর মাঝামাঝি সময়ের কলকাতার সঙ্গে উত্তমকুমারের মধ্যবিত্ত ম্যাটিনি আইডল হয়ে ওঠার সম্পর্ক স্থাপনের চেষ্টা।. ..... <Click here to read more> Book Review | Published in The Book Review | Mar 31, 2023 Story of a Clerk who became a Legend Abhik Majumdar UTTAM KUMAR: A LIFE IN CINEMA by Sayandeb Chowdhury Bloomsbury, 2021, 320 pp., ₹ 1299.00 MARCH 2023, VOLUME 47, NO 3 As the title indicates, the book reviewed here is about Uttam Kumar, the legendary superstar of Bengali films. The author’s website describes it as the ‘first definitive cultural and critical biography’ of the actor. The descriptor may not be strictly accurate. A cursory reading indicates it is anything but a biography in the everyday sense of the term: indeed, it defies most conventional classifications. Which makes it incumbent on us to dwell briefly on what exactly the book stands for, and what it intends to secure. To this end I begin with another quote from the author’s website, which describes the book as ‘engag(ing) meaningfully with his life and his cinema, revealing the man, hero, and actor from various,…. ..... <Click here to read more> Comments Indrani Chakrabarti says Hello, till the other day the book was available on Amazon. Although exhorbitantly priced. But now only the kindle edition is available. Will be grateful if you can kindly let me know if the hardcopies will be availabe online. This is truly a collector's edition and I have read your forward - the book needs to be read and preserved. Am sorry, this is not a comment after reading the book, rather very eager to get my hands on it, hence the query. Reply Leave a Comment Email Name Comment Post Comment Your comment will be revised by the site if needed. bandzii says Please see your mail, Indrani. Reply Leave a Comment Email Name Comment Post Comment Your comment will be revised by the site if needed. Leave a Comment Email Name Comment Post Comment Your comment will be revised by the site if needed.