Legendary Bengali Actor Soumitra Chatterjee Passes Away After Prolonged Illness Due To COVID-19  

Actor Soumitra Chatterjee passed away at a Kolkatta hospital on Sunday afternoon after a prolonged illness marked by a bout of Covid-19. The legendary Bengali actor was 85.

Even though he had recovered from the coronavirus, other health issues had kept him in a serious condition,

"We declare with heavy heart that Shri Soumitra Chattopadhyay breathed his last at 12-15 pm at Belle Vue Clinic today (15 November 2020). We pay our homage to his soul," an official statement from the hospital read. He has been hospitalized for over 40 days.

“With deep grief I must inform you that my beloved father … my Bapi left us this morning. As a family, we are devastated. Please say a prayer for his soul,” Chatterjee’s daughter, Poulami Bose, informed.

In his his five-decade-long career in Bengali cinema, Soumitra Chatterjee was a frequent collaborator with ace director Satyajit Ray, under whom he made his acting debut in the acclaimed movie The World of Apu.

In total he starred in 14 of his films, and played the role of the legendary detective Feluda in the movies Sonar Kella and Joi Baba Felunath.

In 2012, he won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and in 2018 Lgion d' honneur, the highest civilian award in France.