Apuorbo is Bangladesh’s Uttam Kumar: Uttam Kumar’s niece

Jhimli Banerjee, niece of legendary Indian actor Uttam Kumar and daughter of actor Tarun Kumar, has described popular Bangladeshi actor Ziaul Faruq Apurba as the “Uttam Kumar of Bangladesh”.

A few days ago, while commenting on one of Apurba’s Facebook posts, Jhimli wrote, “You will go a long way. May God bless you. You are the Uttam Kumar of Bangladesh.”

The comment prompted a conversation with Jhimli Banerjee over the phone from Kolkata on the afternoon of September 3, the birth centenary of Uttam Kumar. Asked why she had referred to Apurba as “Bangladesh’s Uttam Kumar”, she began the conversation by spontaneously mentioning the names, characters and dialogues from several of his television dramas.

Speaking about Apurba’s acting, Jhimli expressed her admiration for his various characters, dialogues and acting style. Her comments made it clear that she has not merely watched the Bangladeshi actor’s work but has followed it closely.

“Uttam Kumar was my paternal uncle. I am the daughter of his brother, actor Tarun Kumar. I was the one who made that comment you saw. I am over 60 years old. I did not write anything less than what I meant. In fact, after watching Apurba’s work, I feel I wrote too little,” Jhimli said.

She added, “I consider Apurba like a younger brother. I have been watching all his work over the past few months. Sometimes I watch them repeatedly. That is when I fell in love with his work. I have observed everything about him closely. I have even noticed the mark on his neck. He portrays every character beautifully. After watching many of Apurba’s interviews over the past few days, I realised that he has a very good soul, something that Uttam Kumar also had.”

Jhimli also pointed to similarities between Apurba and Uttam Kumar in their expressions and attitude towards colleagues.

“Apurba also has a similar language in his eyes. Uttam Kumar was not only dedicated to his own work, he was also caring towards the people he worked with. I saw the heroine working with Apurba say in an interview that when Apurba is around, half of her worries disappear,” she said.

Jhimli is also confident about Apurba’s future.

“I believe Apurba will go a long way. He can sing well too. In an interview, he said he was nervous while singing. I told him that he had already conquered that fear. I would also like to say that he should not give up singing. He may not be able to dance when he gets older, but he will still be able to sing,” she said.

Jhimli also expressed her desire to meet Apurba in person.

“I want to meet Apurba face to face at least once. I want to talk to him. If he hears what I have said, he may say, ‘Where is the great Uttam Kumar and where am I?’ But I am the daughter of an artist. My paternal uncle was Uttam Kumar, my mother also acted, and my father was Tarun Kumar. Art runs in my blood. My son Saurav Chatterjee is working in television serials. I have not said anything wrong. I am saying these things while sitting in Uttam Kumar’s house,” she said.

Meanwhile, Apurba was taken by surprise after hearing the “Uttam Kumar of Bangladesh” remark from a member of Uttam Kumar’s family.

After remaining silent for a moment out of humility, Apurba said, “I am not qualified to comment on this. Such a remark is unimaginable to me. Perhaps she said it out of affection and love. I believe I will never be worthy of commenting on such a matter.”