Veteran Bengali actor Pradip Mukherjee, who immortalised the character of the protagonist in Satyajit Ray's Jana Aranya, died on Monday at a hospital in Kolkata. He was 76 and is survived by his wife, a son and daughter.
He was admitted to a private hospital three days back due to a lung infection and was shifted to a state-run hospital on Sunday, his family said.
His condition worsened and he breathed his last at 8:15am on Monday.
Condoling his death, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I am saddened on getting the news of Pradip Mukherjee’s death. He had left his mark in Ray's Jana Aranya, Rituparno Ghosh's Utsav and Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Dooratwa. His death left a deep void.”
The chief minister conveyed her condolences to his family and fans. Mukherjee acted in over 40 films, including Hirer Angti in 1992 by Rituparno Ghosh and Mondo Meyer Upakhyan in 2002 by Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
He started his acting career with Ray's Jana Aranya in 1976 in which he essayed the role of Somnath, the central character. His last released film was Torulatar Bhoot in 2021.
‘‘He was spotted by my father at a Bengali stage production and he decided to cast him in Jana Aranya. He delivered an excellent performance. He was a true well-wisher of the Ray family. We lost a family member,’’ Ray's son and eminent filmmaker Sandip Ray told PTI.
Mukherjee also acted in Satyajit Ray's Sakha Prasakha in 1990 and Sandip Ray's Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy in 2012, Badsahi Angti in 2014 and Gorosthane Sabdhan in 2010. His only Hindi film was Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh in 2016.
Director Nirmal Chakraborty recently cast Mukherjee in his period film Datta, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's eponymous novel.
Chakraborty told PTI: ‘‘Pradipda was a down-to-earth, gentle and cultured person. He was dedicated to his work despite poor health. He always wanted to know if I was happy with his performance.’’
