The actor's death is certainly a great loss for the film industry
Legendary Indian actor Soumitra Chatterjee has sadly passed away at the age of 85 after suffering from Covid-19 complications.
The actor who was famed for his work Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray was admitted to hospital in Kolkata on October 6, 2020, after testing positive for coronavirus.
Reportedly, Soumitra Chatterjee tested negative a few weeks after he was admitted to hospital.
However, he, unfortunately, succumbed to the same as his condition quickly deteriorated. As a result of this, he was put on a ventilator during the last week of October.
Fans of the late actor have been mourning his death. Actor Anupam Kher expressed his grief on Twitter. He wrote:
“Deeply saddened to know about the demise of legendary actor and one of my favourite #SoumitraChatterjee.
“I learnt so much from his amazingly rich talent and craft. Om Shanti!!”
Soumitra Chatterjee has starred in over 300 movies throughout his six-decade-long career in Bengali films.
As well as an established actor, Soumitra Chatterjee was also an accomplished poet, theatre actor and playwright.
For his tremendous work, Soumitra Chatterjee was awarded the highest honour in Indian cinema, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2012.
His work was recognised globally, in 2018 he was awarded France’s highest cinema award, the Legion of Honour.
Soumitra Chatterjee is probably best-known for his work with Ray. In fact, the pair met by chance when the actor was in college.
This led to Soumitra Chatterjee’s debut. Speaking about the same to film critic and biographer, Marie Seton, the late actor said:
“I didn’t know what to do when Mr Ray first asked me.”
“I didn’t know what was the real difference between stage and screen acting. I was afraid I’d overact.”
Throughout his career, Soumitra Chatterjee has worked with prestigious directors. These include Mrinal Sen, Asit Sen, Aparna Sen and Tapan Sinha to name a few.
Indian filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan said that Soumitra Chatterjee “became the quintessential Bengali – intellectually inclined, of middle-class orientation, sensitive and likeable” onscreen.
Despite his popularity and creative flair, Soumitra Chatterjee stayed away from Bollywood.
Speaking about the same, journalist, poet and filmmaker, Pritish Nandy said:
“Soumitra is the finest actor in the land today, but totally unheard of outside Bengal. It’s a loss for India, Bollywood and I guess, a bit for Soumitra.”
The actor’s death is certainly a great loss for the film industry in India.
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