Santosh Dutta was a Bengali character actor and immortalized in the character of Jatayu in Satyajit Ray`s Feluda movies, including Sonar Kella and Joi Baba Felunath. Santosh Dutta despite being a comedian and, has elevated comedy acting to the varied levels of character roles. After `Sonar Kella`, he became deeply rooted with the role of "Jatayu" that Satyajit Ray later remodeled the appearance of Jatayu and made the sketches of Jatayu accordingly in Feluda novels. After the death of this unmatched actor, Ray once said that there would be no further movies in the Feluda series, as the role of Jatayu cannot be thought of without Santosh Dutta.

Apart from playing Jatayu, Santosh Dutta also paid vital roles in Satyajit Ray`s masterpiece films for children like Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen and Hirak Rajar Deshe. In `Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen`, Santosh Dutta played the roles of kings of "Halla" and "Shundi". He played the role of a scientist along with a small appearance for the same `King of Shundi` in `Hirak Rajar Deshe`, which is a sequel to the film `Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen`.

Another milestone in Santosh Dutta`s career was playing the character of Gopal Bhar in the movie of same name, Gopal Bhar. His humorous character is known for centuries in India, particularly in the state of West Bengal. Santosh Dutta is also seen acting in important roles for the films like Ogo Badhu Sundari, Paras Pathar, Teen Kanya, Streer Patra, Kapurush O Mahapurush, Jana Aranya, Marjina Abdallah, Char Murti and Gana Devata.

Filmography of Santosh Dutta

Film	Year	Film	Year
Ogu Bodhu Sundari	1981	Marjina Abdulla	1973
Heerak Rajar Deshe	1980	Streer Patra	1972
Ganadevata	1979	Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne	1968
Joi Baba Felunath	1978	Mahapurush	1965
Jana Aranya	1976	Teen Kanya	1961
Sonar Kella	1974