Santosh Dutta

Santosh Dutta
File:Santosh Dutta.jpg Santosh Dutta in the film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Born	(1925-12-02)2 December 1925 Dhaka, Bangladesh
Died	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor, Criminal Lawyer
Children	Labanya Pramanik

Santosh Dutta (Bengali: সন্তোষ দত্ত) was a Bengali actor, best known for immortalizing the character of Jatayu in Satyajit Ray's Feluda movies viz. Sonar Kella and Joi Baba Felunath. He was a lawyer by profession. Essentially a comedian, he elevated comedy acting to the levels of character roles. Satyajit Ray gave him the first break with a small role in his immortal film Paras Pathar. After Sonar Kella, he became so associated with the role of "Jatayu" that Satyajit Ray later reframed the appearance of Jatayu and started making the sketches of Jatayu resembling Dutta in Feluda novels. After the death of this actor, Ray once remarked that there will be no further movies in the Feluda series as Jatayu cannot be thought of without Santosh Dutta. Though the role of Jatayu was later played by artistes like Anoop Kumar, Rabi Ghosh and Bibhu Bhattacharya, these actors agreed that it was impossible to play the character without the influence of Santosh Dutta in mind.

Apart from playing Jatayu, Dutta played crucial roles in Satyajit Ray's masterpieces for children like Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Hirak Rajar Deshe. In Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, Dutta played dual roles of the kings of "Halla" and "Shundi". In Hirak Rajar Deshe, which is a sequel to Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen, Dutta played the role of a mysterious scientist (known as Gobeshok Gobochondro Gyanotirtho Gyanorotno Gyanambudhi Gyanochuramoni), in addition to a small appearance for the same 'King of Shundi'.

Another milestone in Dutta's career was playing Gopal Bhar in the movie of same name, Gopal Bhar being a humorous character known for centuries in India, particularly the state of West Bengal.

The role of Abalakanto in Ogo Bodhu Sundari has also become legendary.

Dutta played important roles in films like Teen Kanya, Paras Pathar, Kapurush O Mahapurush, Streer Patra, Marjina Abdallah, Jana Aranya, Char Murti and Gana Devata. He played the roles of comedians in some commercial theaters. Kone Bibhrat was one of the plays in his later years which was a mega hit. He worked in a TV serial called Goenda Bhagabandas with Rabi Ghosh, another famous actor of his time.

Filmography

Year	Film Name	Director	Genre	Role
1958	Parash Pathar	Satyajit Ray		Atanu
1958	Headmaster	Agragami		Actor
1961	Teen Kanya	Satyajit Ray		Actor
1965	Mahapurush	Satyajit Ray		Professor Nandi/Nani
1968	Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne	Satyajit Ray		King of Shundi
1973	Marjina Abdulla	Dinen Gupta		Ali Baba
1973	Shriman Prithviraj	Tarun Majumdar		Nobin Master
1974	Jadu Bansha	Partha Prathim Choudhury		Actor
1974	Sonar Kella	Satyajit Ray		Lalmohan Ganguli/Jatayu
1976	Jana Aranya	Satyajit Ray		Hiralal Saha
1976	Asadharan	Salil Sen		Actor
1977	Ei Prithibir Panthanibas	Aravind Mukherjee		Actor
1977	Shesh Raksha	Shankar Bhattacharya		Actor
1977	Sister	Pijush Bose		Actor
1977	Joi Baba Felunath	Satyajit Ray		Lalmohan Ganguli/Jatayu
1978	Charmurti	Umanath Bhattacharya		Pisemoshai
1979	Ghatkali	Bimal Roy Jr.		Actor
1979	Brajabuli	Pijush Bose		Actor
1980	Abhi	Apurba Kumar Mitra		Actor
1980	Hirak Rajar Deshe	Satyajit Ray		King of Shundi/Scientist in Hirak Raj
1980	Sandhi	Amal Dutta		Actor
1980	Paka Dekha	Aravind Mukherjee		Actor
1980	Gopal Bhanar	Amal Sur		Actor
1981	Subarnalata	Bijoy Bose		Actor
1981	Ogo Bodhu Shundori	Salil Dutta		Abolakanta
1982	Khelar Putul	Tarun Majumdar		Actor
1982	Malancha	Purnendu Pattrea		Actor
1982	Rasamoyeer Rasikata	Amal Sur		Actor
1983	Kauke Bolo Na	Vishwanath Mukherjee		Actor
1983	Duti Pata	Bimal Roy Jr.		Actor
1983	Srinkhal	Abir Basu		Actor
1984	Pujarini	Partha Prathim Choudhury		Actor
1984	Shilalipi	Palash Bannerjee		Actor
1984	Rajeswari	Salil Dutta		Actor
1984	Sorgol	Biswajit		Actor
1984	Lolita	Tapan Choudhury		Actor
1984	Amar Geeti	Tarun Majumdar		Actor
1984	Joy Parajoy	Chandan Mukherjee		Actor
1985	Nishante	Narayan Chakraborty		Actor
1985	Hulusthul	Aravind Mukherjee		Actor
1985	Baikunther Will	Sushil Mukherjee		Actor
1985	Aamar Prithibi	Bimal Bhowmick		Actor
1986	Dui Adhyay	Goutam Mukhopadhyay		Actor
1986	Urbashe	Salil Dutta		Actor
1987	Abir	Kamal Majumdar		Actor
1987	Samrat-O-Sundari	Bimal Roy Jr.		Actor
1988	Agni Sanket	Swarup Dutta		Actor
1989	Gili Gili Gay	Ishwar Chakraborty		Actor
1991	Palataka	Saran Dey		Actor

External links

• Santosh Dutta at the Internet Movie Database