Soumitra Chatterjee’s piercing gaze and gritty persona as swimming coach “Kshitda” in the 1984 Bengali movie Kony was so believable that it almost transcended the script to become a character who could easily be the reference point to deconstruct coaches of India as a struggling sporting nation.
Chatterjee, 85, passed away on Sunday morning after being hospitalised for over a month. The vibrant legacy that the iconic actor leaves behind is not limited to the multiple cultural hats that he donned, Chatterjee will also be remembered for his keen interest in sports, cricket and football in particular.
Former Bengal cricket captain Sambaran Banerjee, while speaking to The Telegraph, recalled: “He was a keen follower of cricket. When Bengal won the Ranji Trophy in 1989-1990 under my captaincy, the next morning, the first congratulatory call I received was from Soumitrada.
“He used to call me and ask several technical questions about the game. The last time I spoke to him, some five months back, he told me ‘a fit Rohit Sharma can challenge Virat Kohli… The batsman who plays his shots late is always better than others’. But he was never fond of the IPL. He once said, ‘I like to watch Sunil Gavaskar batting against Dennis Lillee with five fielders in the slip cordon; in IPL it is like Kohli is playing at a Golf Green ground’.”
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly paid his tribute, tweeting: “U have done so much ..u can rest in peace ...”
Former footballers Subrata Bhattacharya, Goutam Sarkar and Subhas Bhowmick described Chatterjee as a dedicated football fan.
“He was an ardent Mohun Bagan fan and whenever we lost to East Bengal, he used to be ready with his question — ‘when will we win again?’ He was my neighbour too and we used to meet during morning walks. I can tell you he was well aware of modern-day football as well,” Bhattacharya, a Bagan legend, said.
Sarkar had an interesting take on Chatterjee, the fan. “Yes, he was a Mohun Bagan fan, but because of his friendship with Pradipda (PK Banerjee), he became an East Bengal supporter whenever Pradipda was the coach of the red and gold brigade.”
Bhowmick recalled the adda sessions with the actor. “I used to meet him at Pradipda’s residence. Former badminton player Dipu Ghosh was also a good friend of Pradipda and they used to spend a lot of time together. During such sessions, I never felt that I was sitting beside an actor of such stature, he was absolutely down to earth.”
Sriparna Banerjee, who essayed the role of the teenage swimmer in Kony, remembers Chatterjee’s utmost dedication to his work.
“I have learnt many things from Soumitrababu, most importantly his dedication. Before shooting for Kony started, he used to come to Anderson Club to watch our training sessions with swimming coach Anil Dasgupta at 5.30 in the morning.
“His fitness was also remarkable.
“One day during shooting at the College Square, he just jumped over a three-feet railing wearing dhoti… All the swimmers were all awestruck.”
