Subhdeep Banerjee
Do you remember Dr. Gupta from the film ‘Mouchak’? Who said “It has the fun of youth, but not the punishment of breeding.” Dr. Gupta did a widow marriage in the film ‘Mouchak’. Otherwise, the girl’s father would have eaten him as a bachelor! So he told Uttamkumar Seetesh’s brother Nitish Ranjit Mallick “I know the treatment of all diseases except cancer. But I don’t know the treatment of a girl’s father’s love for a bachelor boy.”
Actor Amarnath Mukherjee played the role of Dr. Gupta in the film ‘Mouchak’. On May 25, 2023, the late actor Amarnath Mukhopadhyay passed away.
He stayed in Mumbai for a long time after leaving Bengali films. Amude was a veteran actor. No one looked for anything special, didn’t even remember. Like many other talented actors of Bengal, he disappeared behind the scenes.
Who is Amarnath Mukherjee (Actor Amarnath Mukherjee)
Amarnath was born on September 11, 1933 in Calcutta. Amarnath grew up in a filmy family. So the inclination towards drama and films was from childhood. Father is yesteryear actor Dr. Harendranath Mukherjee. Amarnath’s paternal uncle was famous Knot actor Johar Gangopadhyay. Dada Shuben Mukherjee was also a radio and film actor. In his youth, he joined the drama group through friendship with Tarun Kumar, Ravi Ghosh, Jochan Dastidar of Bhavanipur. He performed on stage and radio.
After this, his first film debut was in the film ‘Deshbandhu Chittaranjan’. Another film of his, ‘Megh Kalo’, was released in the same year. Actress Suchitra Sen. He was in a supporting role. Amarnath’s performance in ‘Mouchak’ with Uttamkumar is still iconic. He played the role of Suchitra Sen’s elder grandfather in ‘Har Mana Har’. Although this grandfather is a bit of a villain. Lalita Chatterjee played the role of Amarnath’s wife. After that he was seen in many Bengali films like ‘Pratham Pratham’, ‘Chinnapatra’, ‘Stri’, ‘Basant Bilap’ (Anup Kumar’s Dada). Kanika Majumdar played the role of Amarnath’s wife in this film. Also New Day Light, Swayamsiddha, Agnishwar, Rebel, Singer, Devivaran – so many more films.
In 1975, Amarnath’s fortunes opened up in Hindi films by acting in Shakti Samantar’s double version ‘Amanush’. He subsequently worked in several Hindi film serials. That’s why the actor stayed in Mumbai. He worked in Dhan Daulat, Dhunwa, Mahabali Hanuman, Disco Dancer.
Amarnath was the favorite actor of Tarun Majumder’s unit. Tanu Babu’s journey with Amarnath started with Kuheli film. He worked in the film Aonam, Apan Amar Apan To Alo. His last popular Bengali film was ‘Alo’. Rituparna Sengupta played the role of Colonel Baba. He could not ignore young Majumdar. So at an advanced age, he went to Hyderabad and shot for Tarun Majumdar’s ‘Durgeshanandini’ serial.
There are also many interesting facts. Amarnath was shooting for Seva’s film ‘Agaman’ when Tarun Majumdar suddenly exclaimed, “It was as if a whole pig had entered the camera.” Tanu Babu used to joke like this even though he was serious. Amar Babu loved young Majumdar very much. So Tarun was saddened by the news of Majumdar’s death. But no media wanted to listen to Tarun Majumdar’s reminiscences from him. Because Amarnath was behind.
Once worked a lot in Bengali series. He had tall broad face, spoke Hindi well, full voice. So he got a lot of Punjabi, Marwari characters. Worked in professional theater as well. Despite being a big actor, he used to get small supporting roles. Yet he used to explain his caste by that.
He was suffering from senile illness since last February. Admitted to nursing home for seven days. As there was no improvement, the doctors asked to take him home. Finally, the actor passed away in his sleep at his home in Mumbai. He was 90 years old. He has a wife, son, daughter-in-law, grandson. The actor spent his last life peacefully in a busy world. His son Chandradeep Mukhopadhyay.
But the last journey of Amarnath Mukhopadhyay is silent. The industry people did not know that he is alive in the background. The audience had forgotten. This actor did not get the last respect from anyone in the Bengali film industry in his last farewell. He himself did not want it. So his death message did not reach everyone. Amarnath Mukhopadhyay worked with many artists, so many old artists may shed tears in his memory.
(Current photo of Amarnath Mukhopadhyay courtesy son Chandradeep Mukhopadhyay)
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