Uttam Kumar had struggled a lot to reach the top and the people had lovingly referred to him as Mahanayak, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee while presenting Mahanayak Awards at a function at Dhano Dhanyo auditorium this evening. The state government observed the 43rd death anniversary of Uttam Kumar with due solemnity. Besides Miss Banerjee, her cabinet colleagues and the actors from Tollywood paid floral tributes to him. The function was organised by the state information and cultural affairs department.

Miss Banerjee regretted that the former state government did not open Rabindra Sadan to keep his mortal remains so that his fans could pay their last respects. She said she and her mother were walking on the road in front of their house on 24 July 1980 night, when some young boys and girls who had been passing by, said Uttam Kumar was no more. She said the state government will present the teleacademy award on 24 August. Kolkata Police and TV channels will collaborate to present an award.

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The date of the programme has not yet been decided. Miss Banerjee said she would propose two award giving functions, one before the Puja and the other post the celebrations. Miss Banerjee gave away the Mahanayak award to Koyel Mulick, Shrabanti Chatterjee, Sayantika Bandyopadhyay, Ankush Hazra and Subhasree Ganguly. Special awards were given to directors Haranath Chakraborty and Anirban Bhattacharya and actor Sohini Sarkar.

The statue of Uttam Kumar, opposite Mahanayak Metro station was garlanded in the morning. Shilpi Sangsad, a forum set up by him to look after the needy technicians, is organising a 10-day Mahanayak Film Festival at Nandan from today, where some of his popular films will be screened.

Uttam Kumar Death Anniversary Memorial Cultural Committee handed over medical and financial assistance to some technicians who had worked with Uttam Kumar. The function was held at Uttam Mancha.