Veteran Bengali actor Pradip Mukherjee has passed away on Monday at a hospital in Kolkata. He was 76.
Mukherjee, who immortalised the character of the protagonist in Satyajit Ray's 'Jana Aranya' (The Middleman), was admitted to a private hospital three days back due to an infection in his lungs and shifted to a state-run hospital on Sunday.
His condition worsened there and he breathed his last today morning.
Condoling his death, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement in Bengali, "I am saddened on getting the news of the death of Pradip Mukherjee. He had left his mark in Satyajit Ray's Jana Aranya, Rituparno Ghosh's Utsav and Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Dooratwa. His death left a deep void. "
The chief minister conveyed her condolence to his family and admirers.
Mukherjee had acted in over 40 films - including Hirer Angti' (The Diamond Ring, 1992) by Rituparno Ghosh and Mondo Meyer Upakshan (A Tale of a Naughty Girl, 2002) by Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
He started his acting career with Ray's Jana Aranya' (1976) in which he essayed the role of Somnath, the central character. His last released film is Torulatar Bhoot' (Ghost of Torulata Lake) in 2021.
Mukherjee also acted in Satyajit Ray's Shakha Prasakha' (Branches of a Tree, 1990) and Sandip Ray's Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy' (Where Fear of Ghosts Lurks, 2012), Badsahi Angti' (The Emperor's Ring, 2014) and Gorosthane Sabdhan' (Beware of Graveyard, 2010). His only Hindi film was Sujoy Ghosh's Kahani 2: Durga Rani Singh' (2016).
