The veteran thinking artist Utpal Dutt has been a part of few Amitabh Bachchan projects right from the beginning in 1969 to the late 80s. But interestingly there exists a quite unique kind of inter-connection between the two stalwarts which has not been noticed by many (as it seems) stated below.
To begin with, the millennium star Amitabh Bachchan had two kinds of debuts in Hindi films. One when he was introduced as a narrator with his famous baritone voice in Mrinal Sen’s BHUVAN SHOME in the year 1969. And two, when he was introduced as a young energetic actor in K. A. Abbas’s SAAT HINDUSTANI (1969 only), playing one of the seven key characters in its script. Now the first and the most significant point to be noticed is that in both these prestigious projects the lead role was played by none other than Utpal Dutt.
Secondly, Dutt played the unusual negative role of the main villain in very few Hindi films wherein again the two key ventures happened to be Amitabh starrers i.e. THE GREAT GAMBLER (1979) in which the Bengali veteran played the smuggler/gangster. And other being the controversial INQUILAAB released in 1984 wherein Dutt portrayed the character of a corrupt politician cum businessman.
Thirdly Utpal Dutt probably gave his only screen (cameo) appearance as a Sikh Military officer in a Hindi film IMAAN DHARAM (1977), which again had Amitabh playing one of the lead characters along with Shashi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. A simply outstanding act worth watching, in which Dutt suddenly interrupts a politician’s speech and sings a stage song along with his whole military jawaans group, spiritedly. And the song sequence honestly gives you goose bumps even today, as Dutt loses his artificial leg while dancing on the energetic ‘Dhol’ beats and then goes crawling all the way to pick it up on his own with Sanjeev Kumar sportingly playing the ‘Dufli’ to inspire him.
Incidentally, Amitabh too made a cameo appearance in Utpal Dutt’s GOL MAAL directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee two years later in 1979.
However, amazingly this hidden relationship between the two veterans continued post Dutt’s sudden demise too when Amitabh Bachchan featured as the lead actor in Rituparno Ghosh’s THE LAST LEAR in 2007 which was an English film based on Utpal Dutt’s play AAJKER SHAHJAHAN talking about an eccentric Shakespearean actor.
Plus as destiny had planned, the film won the National Award for Best Feature Film in English in 2008, completing an evident circle of Karma after almost four decades since their first film together BHUVAN SHOME was also awarded the National Award for Best Hindi Film in 1969. In addition where Utpal Dutt won the Best Actor National Award for BHUVAN SHOME, there Amitabh won the Most Promising Newcomer National Award for SAAT HINDUSTANI in the same year.
Hence the two did have an exceptional connection between their individual careers undeniably.
Cheers!
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The amazing connection between Utpal Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan, Unknown Facts of Hindi Films by Bobby Sing, Did You Know Trivia about Bollywood at bobbytalkscinema.com, Utpal Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan Debut Hindi Films