Kolkata: On Sukeas Street, a neighbourhood puja working within modest means but competing fiercely in imagination, has turned nostalgia into its strongest material. Its theme this year is Santosh Dutta, the actor whose comic timing, expressive face and unmistakably Bengali mannerisms made him one of the most-loved figures in Bengali cinema.The tribute comes on Dutta’s birth centenary. Born on Dec 2, 1925, in undivided Bengal, he came to live in the neighbourhood, at 49, Amherst Row, when he was seven. Known as Suradhwani Kutir, the house remained his address for life. For organisers, that local connection makes the tribute intimate rather than ceremonial.“For many in the neighbourhood, Dutta is not just a cinema artiste but a resident who used to walk the streets and have tea at local stalls. In life, his persona was very different from that on screen: he was serious and rarely cracked jokes,” recounted Sibendu Mitra.The pandal treats the theme like a walk through Bengali memory. Using sculpture, painted frames, light, shadow and installations, it recreates moments from Dutta’s life and screen presence. Old Kolkata lanes, a theatre stage and the suggestion of a film set appear in layers, allowing visitors to move through spaces that evoke both the city and the cinema that shaped him.Dutta’s association with Satyajit Ray forms the installation’s emotional centre. Ray brought him from theatre to cinema, and the pandal marks that turning point through ‘Parash Pathar’, his debut film. From there, it invokes ‘Teen Kanya’, ‘Mahapurush’, ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’, ‘Sonar Kella’, ‘Jana Aranya’, ‘Joi Baba Felunath’ and ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’ through character studies, symbolic props and stylised tableaux.A key attraction is Lalmohan Ganguly, or Jatayu, the thriller writer from ‘Sonar Kella’ and ‘Joi Baba Felunath’. Dutta made Jatayu more than comic relief, giving him warmth, fear, vanity, innocence and loyalty.“I have drawn heavily from ‘Joi Baba Felunath’ and the character Lalmohan Babu who uses the ‘chadmanaam’ or pen name of Jatayu. We have tried to recreate the Ghoshal family house thakurdalan showcased in the movie. Since space is limited, we have used the balconies of the Srimani Bari as part of the thakurdalan installation,” explained artist Indrajit Ray, adding that a golden Ganesh has been kept inside the lion’s jaw just like in the film. The Idol-maker Bablu Paul was asked to make the idol resemble those seen in bonedi baris in the 1970s. The tribute also recalls Dutta’s “Researcher” in ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’, Abalakanta from ‘Ogo Bodhu Sundari’, and his association with Gopal Bhar. Together, they underline his place in Bengali wit, folk humour and satire.The Sukeas Street puja refuses to treat comedy as lesser art. It presents Dutta’s humour as observation, rhythm and emotional truth. Dutta, who died on March 5, 1988, returns here as a cherished “Parash Pathar” — a touchstone of laughter, mystery and memory.
