a film based on the play with the same title, Shyamali. In the 1970s, Kumar directed plays under the organization, Shilpi Sangshad. He directed three plays, "Charankabi Mukunda Das", "Sajahan" and "Charitraheen", but he did not act in these. Later, he acted in "Alibaba". Hindi cinema In 1956 Raj Kapoor wanted to cast Kumar in the Bengali version of Jagte Raho, but Kumar declined. In 1962, his friend, composer Hemant Kumar, offered him the lead role in a Hindi film titled Sharmili, directed by Biren Nag. Uttam Kumar was included in promotions for the film, but later cancelled for unknown reasons. Their relationship hit a low point after he rejected it. In 1964, Raj Kapoor approached him to appear in a film under his R.K Films banner, called Sangam, but Kumar rejected it, and the role went to Rajendra Kumar. Kumar's first Hindi film role was in Chhoti Si Mulaqat in 1967, directed by Alo Sarkar and produced by Kumar. The film was adapted from Kumar's earlier Bengali film, Agni Pariksha. Chhoti Si Mulaqat was a failure as the material was considered outdated and lost much of the original film's subtlety. Sarkar's second film starring Kumar, Bandi (1978), was also a failure. Kumar's only success in Hindi was Amanush. The film, directed by Shakti Samanta, was bilingual in both Bengali and Hindi. Kumar's appeared in another bilingual film directed by Samanta, Anand Ashram, a remake of the 1941 film Daktar, which starred Pankaj Mullick and Ahindra Choudhury. Kumar's later Hindi films, Kitaab and Dooriyaan, were box-office failures. Stardom Although known as a romantic lead, Kumar had an eclectic range of performances. In the 1960s, a rivalry was started between Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee. In a 2014 interview, Chatterjee said, "I knew Uttamda ever since he was a Kolkata Port Trust employee before becoming a star. We had met at the theatre beforehand. Any talk about our rivalry is baseless as few know how caring he was. He once dragged me jogging to stay and look fit and trim as a hero at the crack of dawn. I woke up in the dawn hearing commotion in the lane outside and then he called me aloud. Waving to the crowd around the Austin we both got inside and drove away - to the lake area." On-screen partnerships Kumar and Suchitra Sen appeared together in many films. They first appeared as co-stars in