Suchitra Sen was critical through Friday but doctors said late into the evening they had been able to arrest the situation for the time being and she had even expressed her desire to sit on a chair in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“The oxygen saturation level in her blood has improved and she is feeling better. Her condition is still critical but stable. There is no trace of any fresh infection,” critical care expert Subrata Maitra said around 9.30pm.

“She is weak but she spoke to the chief minister. Her daughter and two granddaughters were also in the room. She wanted to sit on a chair but we couldn’t allow that as her health still doesn’t permit it,” he said.

The 82-year-old screen icon who had suffered several bouts of respiratory distress since Thursday night was drowsy most of Friday. Doctors said the oxygen saturation level in her blood had dipped to 77 out of 100, which was a cause for alarm. It inched up to 90 late in the evening.

“At her age, the oxygen saturation level should be at least 85. Anything below that is alarming. Low oxygen saturation leads to less supply of oxygen to the lungs, heart and brain,” said Maitra.

Around 4pm, Sen underwent a procedure to suck out secretions in her lungs that she had been unable to cough out because of her weak lungs, said sources. A tube was inserted into the lungs through the larynx.

After the procedure, in the evening the oxygen saturation level in the blood started climbing up and touched 90 without non invasive ventilation in presence of the CM who went there along with urban development minister Firhad Hakim.

The CM spent more than three hours with Sen on Friday evening at a room in Belle Vue Clinic’s intensive therapy unit where the screen icon is admitted with acute chest infection since December 23, and left only after her condition improved.

Mamata, on her third visit to Sen, entered the nursing home at 6.38 pm and left at 9.20 pm.

“She is critical, not out of danger but stable. Stable because her heart rate, pulse rate and blood pressure are satisfactory,” said Maitra who is leading a team of doctors to treat the 82-year old actress.

“Her condition did become critical. But she has been able to recover by herself. We did not do anything new. The presence of her family members must have had the effect of counselling. I even saw her smile,” said the doctor.

According to sources, Sen had a light breakfast in the morning along with tea and biscuit but after that her condition started becoming critical. She felt drowsy and hardly spoke to people. Daughter Moon Moon was beside her throughout the day.

She didn’t have lunch, said the sources. Doctors were worried about her reduced diet as this made her weak and tired and was unable to cough out the secretions.

“Although Suchitra Sen's condition remains stable, her dependence and demand of oxygen still remains high. Her cardiac condition continues to be stable. She could tolerate the prescribed diet well and she looks brighter today,' stated a medical bulletin issued by Belle Vue stated at noon.

The bulletin also said that supportive therapy like nebulisation, intermittent non-invasive ventilation and physiotherapy was continuing as before. However, unlike previous days, she was put on non-invasive ventilation only in the morning.

Ends