Mahanayak Uttam Kumar set to make comeback in Bengali movie

Kolkata: Over four decades after his death, national award-winning director Srijit Mukherji will be bringing back Bengal’s evergreen matinee idol, Uttam Kumar, to life through VFX and Artificial Intelligence.

'Oti Uttam' casts Anindya Sengupta, Roshni Bhattacharya, and Gourab Chatterjee, apart from the AI-generated images of Uttam Kumar from existing footage of his films, conversing with other characters.

It is a tribute by the ‘Autograph’ director to Uttam Kumar, called Mahanayak by millions of fans.

Describing ‘Oti Uttam’ as his ‘labour of love,’ Mukherjee recently said on social media it took six years for him to make the movie.

"A film which took six years to make. A journey which saw a global pandemic and the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Our labour of love. Our dream project. Our audacious ambition. The first of its kind in history. Oti Uttam," he said on X recently.

Mukherjee had undertaken research for years, watched over 60 films repeatedly, and talked to VFX experts to perfect each shot, a production house spokesperson said.

The story of the film, the trailer of which was released recently, revolves around two characters Krishnendu and Sohini, which have gone viral already.

Krishnendu, essayed by Anindya, is doing a PhD on Uttam Kumar, and the ghost of Uttam Kumar, who is invoked by planchette in the film, has an interesting positive contribution to developing the romantic relationship between Krishnendu and his lady love Sohini, portrayed by Roshni Bhattacharya.

Young actor Gourab Chatterjee, the real-life grandson of Uttam Kumar, will enact the role of the matinee idol’s grandson in the film, which will be released on March 22.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan said on his handle, after watching the trailer, "The first-ever film to have a principal character made out of existing footage. A tribute to Uttam Kumar... Oti Uttam." Uttam Kumar, widely considered one of the biggest actors in the country, had acted in over 250 films including ‘Nayak,’ ‘Jatugriha,’ ‘Chiriyakhana,’ ‘Khokababur Pratyabartan,’ ‘Chowrongee,’ ‘Thana Theke Aschii,’ just to name a few, having portrayed characters of different shades even in commercial hits.

He died on July 24, 1980, at the age of 53 after suffering a massive stroke on the set of the Bengali film "Ogo Bodhu Sundari," which became a hit after his demise. PTI SUS MNB