Veteran Bengali actor Pradip Mukherjee dies in Kolkata

Kolkata, August 29

Veteran actor of the Bengali silver screen, Pradip Mukherjee, who became legendary after his iconic role of Somnath in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Jana Aranya’, died in a hospital here on Monday. He was 76.

He also received critics’ accolades for his role of Dr Maiti in the Vidya Balan and Arjun Rampal starrer, ‘Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh’.

Mukherjee was hospitalised on August 22 following a lung infection. His condition started deteriorating from Sunday and he had to be given ventilator support.

He was tested Covid-19 positive twice in the last two years.

Besides acting, Mukherjee was also a practising tax consultant.

He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Mukherjee was born on August 11, 1946 and after graduating from City College in Kolkata, he also received a degree in law.

He had been attracted to acting since his college days.

Besides taking drama lessons, he was actively associated with a number of theatre academies.

He started his acting career on stage, where he was noticed by Satyajit Ray, who featured him as Somnath in his iconic movie ‘Jana Aranya’.

IANS