Did you know Chhabi Biswas acted in 4 Hindi films?

Chhabi Biswas, the towering actor and a legendary figure, was tipped as the greatest actor ever to grace Indian celluloid by none other than Satyajit Ray when he stood to his stringent test as ‘Huzur Bisvambhar Roy’ in ‘Jalasaghar’, as ‘Indranath Chauduri’ in ‘Kanchenjungha’ and as ‘Kalikinkar Roy’ in ‘Devi’, Ray’s three cult classics. Chhabi Biswas had appeared in more than 250 films during a span of 25 years delivering some memorable performances in almost every film he acted in. But how many of you know, he acted in four Hindi films as well. As we pay tribute to the legendary actor on his 119^th birth anniversary, here’s an interesting fact about his Hindi film outing. Unfortunately for Bollywood fans, he was seen in only a few Hindi films like ‘Nartaki’ (1940), ‘Saugandha’ (1942), ‘Mahakavi Kalidaas’ (1942), ‘Chandrashekhar’ (1947)- perhaps because he was much more dedicated to his native Bengali films or didn’t find himself very comfortable with Hindi Films. Showman, Raj Kapoor, too was surprised to watch Chhabi Biswas’s performance in his film ‘Ekdin Ratre’ which was a Bengali version of Raj Kapoor’s Hindi film ‘Jagte Raho’. The lips synchronization by Chhabi Biswas to Manna Dey’s famous song ‘Ei duniyay bhai sabi hoi’ made Raj Kapoor to agree that he was the greatest actor ever seen in Indian films. In fact, he even regretted the absence of Chhabi Biswas from Bollywood films.