New book on Soumitra’s writings to unveil his life’s journey

A glittering book launch will be organised in the City of Joy on the same day to mark 58 years of Chatterjee facing the cameras in his first role as a young Apu in the legendary Satyajit Ray film, Apur Sansar(1959), one of the three films of the famous Apu Trilogy.

Another veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah is expected to be present for the book launch.  The collection, titled Soumitra Chattopadhyay: Godyo Sangraha(Collection of prose writings) is being edited by the acclaimed film critic, Samik Bandopadhyay.

“The book throws up interesting facts about the actor’s life like his films, his involvements with theatre as well as his personal life. It is a collector’s item”, says Subhankar Dey, of Dey’s 

Publishing. There will be a glimpse of the various iconic personalities that the veteran actor has come across and interacted with in his long and illustrious career in the book. 

The actor is known for his stellar performances in 14 of Ray’s films, including Charulata, Aranyer Din 

Ratri, Sonar Kella, Ghare Baire and Ganashatru. He also acted in the acclaimed Mrinal Sen film, Akash Kusum. The octogenarian Chatterjee has acted in more than 210 films till date.

Winner of two national film awards, Chatterjee also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for his theatre performances. The actor also writes poetry and plays and the same publishers have earlier published his selected book of poems.

Chattopadhyay has written for various news papers and magazines throughout his life, including Desh, Aajkaal, Ganashakti and Ananda Bazaar Patrika. These articles and some unpublished writings will comprise the book’s content.