Soumitra Chatterjee in the eyes of Goutam Ghose
Soumitra Chatterjee was a guardian of Bengali culture. It is an irreparable loss. He was my senior, but he was more like a friend to me. A man of high morals, Soumitra dominated in all spheres of culture including theater, recitation, film and drama, among others.
Even though he was very famous, he always believed in simplicity. I had the privilege of doing four films with the legend. After every shot, he asked me whether the shot was perfect, insisting for a retake if it was anything less than.
The great virtue of Soumitra was his homework. Without proper preparations, he would not shoot. This is the reason that retakes were rarely needed when working with him.
His sense of humor was unbelievable. He used to gossip with the entire unit during the shooting.
I remember the time that we were going to join Marrakesh film festival. We were chain smokers at that time. When we reached the airport in France, Soumitra wanted to have a smoke. When I said that I don't have matches, he brought out two sticks of matches from his socks!
I cannot fathom the fact that he is not there anymore. I feel bad that I could not say goodbye to him one last time.
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