Legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who passed away in Calcutta on Sunday, had visited Jharkhand on several occasions, mesmerising everyone with his poetry recitation and acting skills.

Dhanbad-based advocate and executive member of Lindsay Club and Library, Somnath Choudhary, recalled the visit of the versatile actor to the annual book fair organised by the club in April 2001 in coal town.

“We were simply amazed by his poetry recitation skills. I still remember Soumitra Chatterjee’s recitation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Birpurush. Despite being 65 years old, one had to see his energy to believe it. Having come by train, he made sure to visit each of the publisher’s stall at the book fair and also read several poetry books before going up on the stage,” said Choudhary, who had the privilege of getting a poetry collection autographed by the actor.

“I distinctly remember how he politely refused to give autographs on books of poetry written by someone else, but when I pleaded with him and showed him that the collection also comprised poems by Tagore, he relented and gave his autograph on the book. He spent the entire day at the book fair interacting with visitors and attended the literary session in the evening before returning to Calcutta by train the next day,” Choudhary, 59, recalled.

Amit Das with the actor during the shooting of Mrs Universe at Golmuri Club in Jamshedpur in 1996. Picture by Bhola Prasad

The famous actor also visited Jamshedpur on several occasions.

“I could not sleep yesterday night. The nostalgic memories of spending some time with the great actor kept coming back. It was a godsend opportunityfor me to be able to act with him in two Bengali films (Mrs Universe and Khuje Berai Tare) and both the films were shot in Jamshedpur. I still remember his suggestions on memorising the script and bringing out emotions while acting,” said Amit Das, a Jamshedpur-based theatre artiste, who had acted as a milkman in Mrs Universe in 1996 and a gardener in Khuje Berai Tare in 2018.

Das said Chatterjee had also performed in several theatre shows at The Milanee, XLRI Auditorium and Rabindra Bhavan in Jamshedpur.

“Theatre lovers in Jamshedpur still remember how the famous actor had left them spellbound with his performance on stage. He had last come to Jamshedpur in 2018 and performed in The Milanee,” Das added.

Chatterjee had also come to Ranchi at least once.

“I had the privilege of singing during Bangla Sanskritik Mela in 2005 at Mahendra Pratap College in Ranchi where Chatterjee was present for a discussion on poetry and prose. During a brief interaction, he gave me several suggestions on theatre performance,” said Soumita Sanatani, a senior teacher at Sant Nandlal Smriti Vidya Mandir in Ghatshila and a theatre artiste.

Chatterjee had also visted Daltonganj in 1969 for Satyajit Ray’s Aranyer Dinratri.