Sharmila Tagore, who made her debut in Apur Sansar, Soumitra’s first film in 1959, recalls her co-star as someone who was well-read, well-informed and erudite. She says, “I don’t think we worked in as many films but it’s a very special bond that we shared. We started working in Apur Sansar. It was his first film and mine, too. He was exactly 10 years older than me. He wanted to be an actor and I was an accidental actress. He was 23 and I was 13 at that time. The legacy he has left behind is unparalleled. He has worked with Satyajit Ray in so many films. He was his muse. Soumitra also worked with Tapan Sinha, Ajoy Kar, Mrinal Sen, Asit Sen on several movies. I was just watching Barnali the other day; it took me back in time. Soumitra worked in black and white films also. As an actor, he was not just into cinema. He did theatre, he acted in plays and he directed them, too. He was an exemplary reciter. The way he lent his voice to poems was beautiful. He could sing, he could paint. Lately, he was painting a lot. There was nothing he didn’t know about; sports, politics, literature – he was well-read. He was a hugely talented person and his passing is a great loss for us and the industry. People have made films on him while he was alive. I have never met anyone who knew so much. It was a pleasure talking to him, just like it is to talk to Naseeruddin Shah. It’s enlightening.”
“In fact, Soumitra also did Jatra at one time. I asked him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ He said, ‘It’s a great experience, open theatre and performing to an audience in an open space.’ It must have been so tiring to travel all along and perform. But he enjoyed that. Today, commerce has taken over. People prefer money over art but Soumitra didn’t think like that. He did his characters to the best of his ability, he maintained his dignity and that is why we will remember him the way we do. His ethics, his attitude towards life, his recorded words are all so inspiring,” Sharmila Tagore added,
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