Tulsi Chakraborty

Biography

He was born in a small village in West Bengal. His father was an Indian Railway employee and had transferable job. So he used to stay in Kolkata with his paternal uncle, who was Tabla player and employee of Star Theater. Due to his uncle’s contacts, he got to see performances of the finest actors of commercial theaters. He always wanted to become actor. Tulsi Chakraborty’s first screen appearance was in the film “Punarjanmo” (1932). Following the commercial success of “Manmoyi Girls School”, Chakraborty became one of the major character and comic actors of the Bengali cinema industry. He appeared in the small role of Prassana-Gurumoshai, Apu’s teacher in the village school, in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955). The highlight of his career was undoubtedly Satyajit Ray’s Paras Pathar (The Philosopher’s Stone). This 1957 film, which the great film critic Marie Seton described as a sort of combination of comedy, fantasy, satire, farce and a touch of Pathos showcases Tulsi’s histrionic abilities to the maximum. He plays the role of the protagonist Paresh Dutta, a petty bank clerk who accidentally finds the mythical Philosopher’s Stone (the stone that transforms iron into pure gold) and then goes through a roller-coaster ride of fame, fortune and the inevitable downfall. His other notable performances include Sharey Chuattor(1953), Paresh, Kabi, Ramer Sumati, Shyamali, just to name a few. He was one of the finest character artist Bengali movie ever produced. However, during those days, the cinema production controllers tried to exploit actors a lot. As Mr. Chakraborty was very shy and introvert person, never asked for any hike in his paltry fees during shooting. Hence, in-spite-of acted in more than 300 movies and theaters, he never been able to earn much as he could have been. After his death, due to abject poverty, his widow suffered a lot. Another notable film personality, Mr. Mithun Chakraborty was caring enough to send her Rs. 500 every month till she died.