A curious case of surnames in Tolly

Was struggling to find the subject of the comeback post. Then this one struck and instantly liked its lightness. Was thinking of making this a Facebook post first and seek contribution from friends.

A close look at the names of famous and well-known actors and directors of Tollygunge curiously revealed that certain surnames rule here. Let’s start with the biggest- Chatterjee. This one has an amazing span over generations. No prizes for guessing who comes first- The matinee idol Uttam Kumar, whose official name read Arun Kumar Chatterjee. Next is, obviously, Soumitra. And then Biswajit, Subhendu, Sabitri, Moushumi and Anil. The baton is being ably carried in this generation by Prosenjit, Saswata, Parambrata, Abir and Ananya. Will have to add Dhritiman at present times, as more of his work than in the past is happening now. It is to be noticed that there are not one but two father-son pairs here. And though not famous, Abir has company of his parents Phalguni and Rumki at work. Also, though his claim to fame was one iconic character, Tapen (Gupi) was a Chatterjee too. I think it’s fair to call Chatterjee the ‘Big C’ of Bangla cinema.

If Chatterjee comes, can Sen be far behind? There are so many famous bearers of this surname- Starting with none other than the timeless heartthrob Suchitra, followed by Aparna, Mrinal (director), and then Moon Moon and Raima through the generations. Add famous filmmaker Asit Sen and also Subrata Sen, who once told this blogger that in film festivals abroad all the Sens are thought to be related!

The third position certainly belongs to the Chakrabortys. And no credit to guess who comes first- The Mahaguru- Mithun. Giving him company are Lili, Chiranjit (aka Deepak Chakraborty), Sabyasachi and Raj (Director). The would-be members of the Chakraborty Hall of fame seems to be Sabyasachi’s sons- Gaurab and Arjun.

Mukherjees aren’t way behind. Lead by the eminent Srijit, two of his colleagues form a trio with him Kamaleshwar and Shiboprosad. Among actors- Father-daughter duo Santu-Swastika and Kharaj.

Though the queen bee, Rituparna Sengupta has company of, not many, but Indraneil and Jisshu.

Same with Ghosh and Ganguly. Robi Ghosh has been joined through generations by Gautam (director), Rituparno and Rudranil. Roopa Ganguly is joined by Kaushik and Churni. Duttas are few too- I remember Anjan and Anik.

Signing off here, but this is not an exhaustive list for sure. It can go on and on. You are welcome to contribute. In fact I would love to do a follow-up post if I smell enough meat.