Satya Bandyopadhyay; (1925 – 28 July 1997) was an Indian actor, known for his work in Bengali cinema and theatre. He acted in over 300 movies, in numerous plays and performed frequently on the radio.

Early life

He was born at Kolkata in the year 1925. His parents were Banamali and Charushila. His mother died at a young age. His father also died when he was a teenager. After completing college education from

City College, Kolkata City College is a composite fully state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Established in 1881, it is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata, and played a prominent role in the wake of the Bengal ...

, he took up a job at

Titagarh Titagarh is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Geography Location Titaga ...

paper mill. At this time he was known for his sporting skills on football ground and badminton courts.

Acting in theatre

His acting career started with acting in amateur clubs.

Birendra Krishna Bhadra Birendra Krishna Bhadra (1905–1991) was a radio broadcaster, playwright, actor, narrator and theatre director from Kolkata, India and a contemporary of Pankaj Mallick and Kazi Nazrul Islam. He worked for the All India Radio, India's Nati ...

helped him get roles in plays on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. His first major role was Shaheeder Daak''', a Gananatya production. He acted in multiple roles in major plays such as ''Ulka, Saheb Bibi Golam, Adarsha Hindu Hotel, Chowringee, Begum Mary Biswas, Asami Hajir, Manjari Opera and Devi Choudhurani''''.'' He started writing plays and act in them. Most of these plays were very popular, such as ''Sesh theke shuru, Erao Manush and Nagpash''. His most notable play was ''Nahabat'' which was a blockbuster of its time. His acting skill in theatre were revered by many prominent contemporary directors and actors. Along with his friend

Tarun Kumar Chatterjee Tarun Kumar Chatterjee (24 February 1931 – 27 October 2003) was an Indian actor who is known for his exclusive work in Bengali cinema. In most of his films, his role as a supporting actor gave him huge appreciation from critics and audience. ...

, they established ''Uttam Mancha'', a theatre dedicated to Tarun's elder brother and great actor

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, script writer, composer, and singer who predom ...

Acting in movies

His acting career started in late 1940s as a hero in few Bengali movies. Later he established himself as a character artist and became an automatic choice in comedy movies. He has also worked in villainous roles with equal ease. Most famous of those were ''Charmurti'', where he played the iconic character of ''Ghutghutananda'', a role of a criminal with rib tickling lines. Many great directors such as

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs o ...

and

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...

worked with him. His most memorable association was with director

Tarun Majumdar Tarun Majumdar (or Mazumdar, 22 September 1931 – 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director and Screenwriter who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received four National Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards and an Anandal ...

with whom he worked in multiple movies.

Selected filmography

References

1925 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Indian actors 20th-century Bengalis Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award {{india-actor-stub