1234 Kolkata: Uma Sen, whose poignant portrayal of Durga in Satyajit Ray's ‘Pather Panchali' still moves audiences to tears, passed away at a city nursing home on Monday aged 83. The actor, who significantly contributed to Indian cinema's global recognition, never appeared in another film.
Born in Pabna on Sept 12, 1941, Uma used to participate in plays during her school years. Ray's assistant, Ashish Burman, discovered her at the city's Beltala High School and informed the filmmaker, who promptly arranged a meeting with her father.
Naturally graceful and agile, Uma (then Dasgupta) lacked the rustic quality needed to portray Durga when she first appeared before Ray. The filmmaker's wife, Bijoya Ray, undertook the task of attiring her in a gaachkomor sari with her hair tied in a bun. In her ‘Amader Katha', Bijoya noted that while dressing her up, she recognised Uma's perfect suitability for the role. "Large beautiful eyes, nose and lips. She had intelligent looks too," she wrote. Uma's remarkable resemblance to Karuna Banerjee, who was playing Durga's mother Sarbojaya, also proved significant. "This is Durga," Bijoya recalled Ray exclaiming at Uma's transformed appearance.
But Ray hadn't yet achieved legendary status and cinema wasn't considered a prestigious vocation for adolescent girls in middle-class, conservative Bengali households. Uma's father gave consent only after considerable persuasion. No monetary remuneration was accepted for the performance. "While her orthodox father was opposed to her acting in a film, her progressive sisters convinced him otherwise. She only accepted a set of Rabindra Rachanabali as ‘remuneration' from Ray," said her son, Sourav Sen.
Director Sandip Ray told TOI that his father was "very happy" with her performance. "She had an amazing screen presence, personality and confidence. She hardly needed retakes. That meant the cost of film came down during financially trying times," he said.
On Monday, as the news of her demise spread, many reminisced about her heartbreaking death scene in ‘Pather Panchali' with Apu's innocent query, "Didi ghumochhe (is didi sleeping)?"
Subir Bandyopadhyay, who played Apu, was only nine at the time. "Uma-di and I were both born in September. She must have been 14 or 15 and I was only nine. My fondest memory is the shooting of the iconic train scene in Palsit," he said. Subir, who revisited Boral where Pather Panchali was shot, with Uma a few years ago, recalled how she recited "lebur patae korom cha, hey brishti dhore ja" – Durga's memorable lines whilst sheltering a rain-soaked Apu in the film. "We watched the film together on Aug 26, 1955, at Basusree. Kakababu (Ray) organised everything. We sat together and wept profusely while watching her die on screen," he said, mourning her loss.
Uma never returned to cinema after ‘Pather Panchali'. She studied economics at Calcutta University. "Her father was a veterinary surgeon, painter and a famous Mohun Bagan footballer. She was a teacher in the junior section of Jadavpur Vidyapith till her retirement at 60," said son-in-law Jai Ranjan Ram. Her traditional family discouraged a career in cinema. She later acknowledged that her introvert nature was not suitable for a career in films. "Perhaps she avoided films because she knew nothing could match up to her performance as Durga," Sandip said.
Actor Chiranjeet, her neighbour since 1995, recalled never having any cinema-related discussions with her. "The iconic photographs of her as Durga weren't displayed in her living room but preserved in a separate room inside. She possessed remarkable wit but never flaunted her legendary status. She once narrated attending a wedding with her father, laughing while recounting someone introducing him as Durga's father. He promptly corrected them, insisting that she be identified as Mohun Bagan footballer Paltu Dasgupta's daughter rather than vice versa. Uma-di never emphasised her actor identity. She considered it as one event in her life, not its focal point," Chiranjeet told TOI.