Modi leads tributes as legendary actor Chatterjee dies
LEGENDARY actor Soumitra Chatterjee was hailed as one of Indian cinema’s leading lights after his death at the age of 85 from health complications after he contracted the coronavirus.
Chatterjee appeared in around 300 films over six decades but was best known internationally for his work with Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray.
He was admitted
to a Kolkata hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 last month and was kept there as he suffered further ailments linked to the virus, according to local media.
The acting icon’s condition deteriorated and he died last Sunday (15), his daughter Poulami Bose wrote on Facebook.
Prime minister Narendra Modi said Chaterjee’s death was “a colossal loss to the world of cinema” and India’s cultural life. “International, Indian and Bengali cinema has lost a giant. We will miss him dearly,” added West Bengal state chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Twitter.
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who suffered his own bout of Covid-19 earlier this year, tweeted that Chatterjee was “one of the mightiest pillars” of India’s film industry and “a gentle soul”.
Chatterjee appeared in 14 of Ray’s films and made his debut in the third instalment of the director’s acclaimed Apu Trilogy.
He was in 2012 presented with Indian cinema’s highest honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke, and France awarded him the Legion of Honour three years ago.
Thousands of fans gathered near the crematorium where his body was taken late on Sunday.