Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee breathed his last in a Kolkata hospital today on 15th November. Soumitra Chatterjee was 85. He was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for Novel Coronavirus. He was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, besides winning the 3 National Film Awards. The French government honored Soumitra Chatterjee with its highest honour, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Legion of Honour.
Soumitra Chatterjee was born on 19th January, 1935. After initially getting rejected for the role of Apu, he made his acting debut with the movie Apur Sansar which was released in 1959, which was the third part of Apu Trilogy. In this film he shared the screen space with Sharmila Tagore. Later he acted in Hirak Rajar Deshe, Ghare Baire, Charulata, Sonar Kella, Aranyer Din Ratri, Devi, Teen Kanya, Abhijan, Kapurush, Ashani Sanket, Joi Baba Felunath, Ganashatru and Shakha Proshakha.
Soumitra Chatterjee had acted in over 300 movies, working until his recent hospitalisation .
President Ram Nath Kovind said the Indian film industry had lost one of its legends.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his condolence message, said the actor Soumitra Chatterjee, through his works, had come to embody “Bengali sensibilities, emotions and ethos.”