Santosh Dutta
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Santosh Dutta (Bengali: সন্তোষ দত্ত) was a Bengali character actor, best known for immortalizing the character of Jatayu in Satyajit Ray's Feluda movies viz. Sonar Kella and Joi Baba Felunath. Essentially a comedian, he elevated comedy acting to the levels of character roles. After 'Sonar Kella', he became so associated with the role of "Jatayu" that Satyajit Ray later reframed the appearance of Jatayu and started making the sketches of Jatayu resembling Dutta in Feluda novels . And after the death of this actor, Ray once remarked that there will be no further movies in the Feluda series as Jatayu cannot be thought of without Santosh Dutta.
Apart from playing Jatayu, Dutta also paid crucial roles in Satyajit Ray's masterpieces for children like Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen and Hirak Rajar Deshe. In 'Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen', Dutta played the roles of kings of "Halla" and "Shundi". In 'Hirak Rajar Deshe', which is a sequel to 'Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen', Dutta played the role of a scientist, in addition to a small appearance for the same 'King of Shundi'.
Another milestone in Dutta's career was playing Gopal Bhar in the movie of same name, Gopal Bhar, being a humorous character known for centuries in India, particularly the state of West Bengal.
Santosh Dutta also played important roles in films like Ogo Badhu Sundari, Teen Kanya, Paras Pathar, Kapurush O Mahapurush, Streer Patra, Marjina Abdallah, Jana Aranya, Char Murti and Gana Devata. He also played the roles of comedians in some commercial theatres.
