Amid books, Uttam Kumar steals the spotlight at book fair 2026

Kolkata: Annapurna Chakraborty (70) from Konnagar couldn’t hide her smile as she stood beside a life-size portrait of Uttam Kumar, the eternal heartthrob of Bengali cinema.

As the evergreen song ‘Ei Poth Jodi Na Sesh Hoy’ from ‘Saptapadi’ played in the background, Deepshikha Mukhopadhyay (57) from Behala read with intensity a handwritten letter Uttam Kumar had once penned to his wife, Gouri Debi.

If the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair feels like it’s only about books, a corner at Boimela Prangan in Salt Lake proves otherwise. Near the foreign stalls, an exhibition dedicated to Uttam Kumar and the rich legacy of Bengali cinema has become a space of nostalgia, drawing cine lovers and bibliophiles alike.

From Uttam Kumar’s personal letters and the suit he wore in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Nayak’, to a rare booklet from the 1931 silent Bengali film ‘Aparadh’ by Debaki Kumar Basu, the display offers an intimate glimpse into cinema’s golden past.

The journey spans generations, from Kanan Devi and pioneer filmmaker Hiralal Sen, to JF Madan of Madan Studio fame, and legends like Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha and Rituparno Ghosh, inviting visitors to walk through the legacy of Bengali cinema. Mostly in black and white, the stall itself resembles a bygone cinema hall, complete with a ticket counter. Its facade is adorned with iconic posters, from Dhanni Meye and Jhinder Bandi to Nayak and Pather Panchali.

“This is the birth centenary year of Bengal’s forever favourite, Uttam Kumar, and this exhibition is one of the highlights of the fair,” said Tridib Kumar Chatterjee, general secretary of the Publishers & Booksellers Guild.

He added that books and postcards of cinema legends are also on display. Beyond the exhibits, a bioscope show and a corner for instant box-camera portraits complete the experience, turning a visit to the book fair into a reunion with memories and the magic of Bengali cinema.