What struck you first about actor Tarun Bose were his luminous eyes. Though dark and bulbous, they made an instant impact with their intense gaze even when their owner remained silent. It was because his eyes portrayed unalloyed emotions that Tarun Bose’s face became an ideal vehicle for directors to create characters to delight as well as haunt the Indian viewers. No wonder, once Bimal Roy discovered him at a play in Nagpur; he did not hesitate to launch the actor whose “eyes indicated the antiquity of the soul.”
Tarun Bose streaked across the Hindi film sky like a meteor…blazing briefly but tracing memorable embers across horizons. In spite of the meagre number of 40 odd films, the untrained actor executed portrayals that earned laurels for well etched reflections of real life characters. Like Ashok Kumar, his venerated idol, Tarun Bose too was inclined to dangle a cigarette or a pipe in his fingers yet he too crafted roles without elaborate “theatrics”. Without any disrespect to his calibre, even when viewers do not recall his name, they do remember his characters since his “normalness” gave life to ordinary human beings on screen!
Right from his first film “Apradhi Kaun”, he made a meaningful impact with a portrayal that did not betray any shortcomings of a newcomer. Blessed with an instinctive sense of dramatic execution, not just his eyes and facial gestures but his dialogue delivery too was so apt that it ensured him a permanent fixture in Bimal Roy productions as well as those of his protégés like Biren Naug, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Moni Bhattacharjee. Standing his ground in a brief role in “Madhumati” earned Tarun Bose a lengthy role of a family patriarch in “Sujata”… a role that not only earned him laurels but also a right to many father-figure roles to heroines who were near his own age! So effortless and natural was Tarun Bose in that role of an affectionate and endearing father to Nutan and Shashikala that cinegoers never perceived it was just a 30 year old actor enacting a mature persona!
This graceful ability to glide into a character made him become one of the masses. Devoid of cheeky mannerisms or exaggerated movements; he was an actor who delivered as per the needs of the director without ever trying to attract undue attention towards his own self. Those that know the business of arc lights will tell you how hard it is for most actors to resist the temptation of hogging the camera at the slightest pretext. But Tarun Bose shared screen space with a sense of responsibility that contributed to the director’s vision of the story. Watch films like “Bandini”, “Gumnaam”, “Satyakam”, “Devar”, “Anokhi Raat”, “Annadata” and you too will wonder why film makers did not give him meaty roles to do justice to his natural talent.
Surprising why even after his well enacted central character in “Sujaata”, Bimal Roy did not entrust him with another dynamic and author backed role? Nevertheless, films like “Anupama”, “Oonche Log”, “Mujhe Jeene Do” and “Kohra” were shining adornments on his resume to not just keep him alive in our memories but also illustrate how commercial cinema fails to acknowledge some of its most deserving members. In “Anupama”, under Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s sensitive baton, Tarun Bose brought forth the troubled psyche of a man unable to reconcile with the death of his wife in a sombre display of histrionics. His eyes and facial expressions conveyed not just his estranged relationship with his daughter but also lent an extra edge to the taciturnity of his daughter (Sharmila Tagore). Similarly, if in “Oonche Log”, he demonstrated a certain whimsicality of the desperate killer; he lent conviction and grace to the Police Superintendent in “Mujhe Jeene Do”. Kudos to director Moni Bhattacharjee in revealing a sterner side of the actor in one of remarkable confrontation scenes that he has with dacoit Jarnail Singh (Sunil Dutt); a pity that Bollywood directors did not capitalise on this asset to induce some other finer performances from this sedate actor.
Voluble laughter
And yes, without a doubt, suspense thriller “Kohra” could be described as a feather in his cap. It was his voluble laughter that provided the chill to the story just as his dishevelled looks and inscrutable expressions made many viewers sweat under their collars! Remember, the film was released in the dark, dense single screen halls of mid 1960s and despite mono soundtracks, his laughter and intriguing innuendos gave goose bumps to audiences everywhere. Rather difficult to confirm but it is said that the booming laughter which led to several cinegoers screaming in terror in various parts of the country, also unnerved and startled Tarun Bose himself when he viewed the film for the first time after completion!
The actor, who would have been 90 this 14th of September, accomplished what he always dreamt of – to be a film actor. From the amateur stage of his school and college theatre in Nagpur to come and carve a place for himself in Bombay was indeed a big achievement for a someone who worked diligently in the postal department. It is said that he settled for the postal career so as to have abundant time to devote to not just his theatre activities but also his parents and family. And his move to Bombay on Bimal Roy’s invitation too came only after the great director agreed to Tarun Bose’s condition to provide him a regular salary to help move his doting family to the Indian film capital. Unfortunately, destiny did not allow this affectionate family man to stay too long with his loved ones and he departed from earth at the young age of 44. If his demise was a great loss for his family, it also was a great void for film fraternity since it meant demise of a refined artist of cultured taste and pleasing demeanour... someone whom everyone from Raj Kumar to Dilip Kumar and Ashok Kumar to Hemant Kumar adored as a gentleman friend.
