Kamu Mukherjee – Bengali character artist associated with Satyajit Ray films

Kamu Mukherjee (1931 – 2003) was a character artist of Bengali cinema, best known for the roles he played in Satyajit Ray films. The director groomed him as a talented actor through a series of film roles, of which Mandar Bose in Sonar Kella and Harun in Phatik Chand are most memorable. He has also worked in  he has also worked in movies directed by Sandip Ray, Satyajit Ray’s son, of which Goopy Bagha Phire Elo and Phatik Chand are memorable ones. As an artist, his memorable roles are a goon in Hansgraj, Harun-Al -Rashid in Phatik Chand, Pritish Sarkar in Nayak etc. At many occasions, his role has been brief, but left great impact on viewers – his second film, Charulata being one such instance,

Kamu Mukherjee approached Satyajit Ray because of his passion towards films. It was Ray who identified his real talent as an actor, and his negative role as Mandar Bose in detective film, Sonar Kella is the most memorable role Ray offered to Mukherjee. Very often, his character roles made deep impact on audience than lead actors, and he portrayed grey and negative shaded roles as well. He was seen in movies such as Shatranj Ke Khiladi (Hindi), Mouchak, Joi Baba Felunath, Paka Dekha, Paar, Heerak Rajar Deshe, Phatik Chand Phera etc.

Kamu Mukherjee – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. His debut flick, Sonar Harin in 1959 starred Uttam Kumar, Tarun Kumar, Kali Banerjee, Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Chhabi Biswas etc.

2. He was known to be a humble person in real life, and in professional life, his flair acting skills.

3. During his last days he was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

His memorable role as Pritish Sarkar in Nayak