Nirmal Kumar

Nirmal Kumar
Nirmal Kumar in Atanka (1986)
Born	(1928-12-14) 14 December 1928 (age 97) Bhowanipore, Kolkata, India
Citizenship	Indian
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1949–2009
Known for	Shesher Kabita (1953) Godhuli (1955) Kalindi (1955) Kshaniker Atithi (1959) Kono Ekdin (1960) Kamallata (1969)
Spouse	Madhabi Mukherjee ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	2
Father	Indushekhar Chakraborty
Awards	BFJA Award

Nirmal Kumar (Bengali: নির্মল কুমার; born 14 December 1928, in Kolkata, India) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Bengali cinema, radio and theatre. Often regarded as one of the greatest voice-over artists during 1960s and 1970s, Kumar lent his voice to numerous Bengali radio dramas. Winner of a BFJA Award, he made his big screen debut as Amit Roy in Madhu Bose's Bengali drama film Shesher Kabita (1953) based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name. He rose to wider fame for his role as Srikanta in the Bengali radio drama Srikanta. He is also known for his roles in Bengali films such as Drishti (1955), Godhuli (1955), Kalindi (1955), Paresh (1955), Chalachal (1956), Kirtigarh (1960), Louhakapat (1958), Bhranti (1959), Janmantar (1959), Thakur Haridas (1959), Kshaniker Atithi (1959), Kono Ekdin (1960), Sandhyarag (1961), Lal Pathar (1964) and Kamallata (1969).

Nirmal Kumar collaborated with Kartik Chattopadhyay in his drama film Godhuli (1955) based on Narendranath Mitra's novel of the same name. His collaboration with Tapan Sinha includes Upahar (1955), Louhakapat (1958), Kshaniker Atithi (1959), Apanjan (1968), Ekhoni (1971), Aandhar Periye (1973), Raja (1975), Sabuj Dwiper Raja (1979), Banchharamer Bagan (1980), Adalat o Ekti Meye (1982), Baidurya Rahasya (1985), Atanka (1986), Antardhan (1992) and Ajab Gayer Ajab Katha (1998). He also teamed up with eminent Indian filmmakers such as Ajoy Kar in Paresh (1955), Partha Pratim Chowdhury in Chayasurya (1963) and Dolna (1965), Chidananda Dasgupta in Bilet Ferat (1972), Arundhati Devi in Padi Pishir Barmi Baksha (1972), Bijoy Bose in Subarnalata (1981) and Samapti (1983), Tarun Majumdar in Pathbhola (1986) and Apan Amar Apan (1990), Rituparno Ghosh in Dahan (1998), and Kaushik Ganguly in Waarish (2004). He was also a part of Madhabi Mukherjee's directorial venture Atmaja (1998). He featured opposite Sumitra Devi in Gobinda Ray's Thakur Haridas (1959) and Suchitra Sen in Harisadhan Dasgupta's Kamallata (1969).

Career

In 1949, Nirmal Kumar was an LDC at Calcutta High Court when he joined Gananatya on Sabitabrata Dutta's insistence. Several days later, he became a part of Bohurupee, which offered him the golden opportunity to observe Sombhu Mitra's acting style and voice modulation. Rabi Basu in his Satrang stated that Kumar excelled in all his radio dramas as he learned a substantial part of voice modulation from Mitra. The plays Kumar collaborated with Bohurupee were Pathik and Chera Tar, both penned by Tulsi Lahiri. Pathik was based on Rober Emmet Sherwood's The Petrified Forest. He, alongside Sabitabrata Dutta and Santosh Dutta formed a theatre group named Anandam.

In 1952, Sabitabrata Dutta advised Kumar to audition for Amit Ray in Madhu Bose's directorial venture Shesher Kabita (1953), based on Tagore's Shesher Kabita (1929). Kumar successfully auditioned for this role in Calcutta Movietone Studio. He was cast alongside Dipti Roy portraying the role of Labanya. The screenplay of the film was written by Nripendra Krishna Chatteejee. Though the film was a moderate success at the box office, it catapulted Kumar to stardom.

Imagine my guts when I instantly said yes the moment he asked if I can play Amit Ray. “What’s there not to play Amit Ray? Of course, I can,” I said. Madhu Bose was stumped by my confidence and told Jhonu that on every earlier occasion, anyone who was given this offer had said he needed time to think over the proposal. And here was someone who was ready instantly. He then asked if I was ready to read any book he gave me. He handed over an excerpt from Rabindra Rachanabali and asked me to read it aloud.

Following the success of Shesher Kabita, Kumar appeared in a string of Bengali films including Sushil Majumdar's Bhangagara (1954), Bikash Roy's Ardhangini (1955), Chitta Basu's Drishti (1955), Kartik Chattopadhyaay's Godhuli (1955), Naresh Mitra's Kalindi (1955), Ajoy Kar's Paresh (1955) and Tapan Sinha's Upahar (1955). Nirmal starred opposite Kaberi Bose in Chitta Basu's Drishti (1955) was a moderate success. Nirmal collaborated with Pahari Sanyal in Ajoy Kar's Paresh (1955) based on the short story of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Nirmal played the titular role who is torn between Gurucharan, his conscientious uncle enacted by Pahari Sanyal and Haricharan, his avaricious father who proposes an unfair allotment of their ancestral property. The screenplay of the film was written by Jotirmoy Roy while some of extra dialogues were penned by Sajanikanta Das. He starred alongside Jahar Ganguly, Arundhati Devi and Sabitri Chatterjee in Kartik Chattopadhyay's drama film Godhuli (1955) based on Narendranath Mitra's novel of the same name. Nirmal played Chinmoy who falls in love with his cousin's wife Indulekha portrayed by Arundhati, and implores her to marry him. The depiction of the extra-marital affair led to controversy. The film was a box office failure. Nirmal's another collaboration with Arundhati Devi is Dujanay (1955) that stars Basanta Chowdhury and Sabita Chatterjee in the lead.

Nirmal collaborated with Kaberi Bose in Madhu Bose's Paradhin (1956) which was a box office failure. He starred alongside Arundhati Devi in Asit Sen's Chalachal (1956).

He collaborated with Arundhati Devi in Asim Banerjee's Janmantar (1959).

Impressed with the massive box office success of Nilachaley Mahaprabhu (1957) depicting Gaudiya Vaishnavism movement, Gobinda Ray decided to portray Haridas Thakur's life and devotional achievement in the biographical drama Thakur Haridas (1959). Nirmal Kumar was approached to portray Haridas Thakur alongside Sumitra Devi portraying the role of Lakshaheera who is sent by the landlord Ramchandra Khan to seduce the mendicant Haridas. Haridas appears to be generous and free of amorous desire. Impressed with Haridas' dissociation with worldly desire, Lakshaheera falls in love with him and becomes his devotee. The screenplay of the film was written by Bipradas Thakur. The film delineates the platonic love between Haridas and Lakshaheera. Asim Kumar who enacted Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nilachaley Mahaprabhu (1957) was proposed to reprise his role in the film, but he refused as he did not want the film to be as iconic as Nilachaley Mahaprabhu (1957). Malay Kumar was then signed to portray Mahaprabhu. The marketing of the film being heavily propelled on Sumitra Devi's stardom, it became a financial success. Nirmal Kumar received positive review.

After Uttam Kumar refused to play the male lead in Jibon Ganguli's film Sandhyarag (1961) based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali short story Kankal, Nirmal was approached to portray the lead. He plays the role of a young doctor who, in the dead of night, listens to a skeleton that returns as a phantom voice to recount a tragic story of her life. The screenplay of the film was penned by the director himself while the music was composed by Ravi Shankar. The film was selected for several international film festivals including Cairo International Film Festival.

He starred as Gahar Gosai opposite Suchitra Sen playing the titular role in Harisadhan Dasgupta's Kamallata (1969) based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's celebrated novel Srikanta.

Nirmal Kumar also starred opposite Sabitri Chatterjee in Paresh (1955), Upahar (1955) and Sansar (1971), Supriya Devi in Kono Ekdin (1960), Bishkanya (1961), Abhisarika (1962), Dui Nari (1963) and Harano Prem (1966), Basabi Nandi in Bhranti (1959), Tanuja in Dolna (1965), Sumita Sanyal in Apanjan (1968), Sohag Sen in Bilet Ferat (1972) and Madhabi Mukherjee in Bindur Chhele (1973), Bon Palashir Padabali (1973) and Subarnalata (1981).

In Rituparno Ghosh's National Award-winning Bengali film Dahan (1998), Nirmal Kumar portrayed an authoritarian lawyer who secures the acquittal of a gang of molesters, arguing that Srabana, the woman who persuaded the victim to lodge an FIR against them, is a promiscuous woman and therefore an unreliable witness.

Accolades

Filmography

Radio dramas

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Rabi Basu (29 April 2000). Satrang (in Bengali). Vol. 2. Deep Prakashan. Retrieved 6 November 2025.

• Sivaprasad Samaddar (1983). Saradah śatam (in Bengali). Anima Prakasani. Retrieved 1 October 2026.

External links

• Nirmal Kumar at IMDb
• Nirmal Kumar in Gomolo