Actor Santu Mukhopadhyay dead

MUMBAI: Renowned Bengali actor Santu Mukhopadhyay, known for his cultured performances in a large body of films and television serials, died following a long illness at his south Kolkata residence on Wednesday evening, a family source said.

Mukhopadhay, 69, a widower, left behind his two daughters - one of them actress Swastika.

Mukhopadhyay, who held his own while working alongside legends of Bengali cinema Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, was suffering from cancer for a long time. He also had hypertension, blood sugar and suffered from sodium-potassium imbalance.

Born in 1951, Mukhopadhay made his film debut at the age of 24 in Raja directed by Tapan Sinha. Soon after he got acclaim for his acting in Sansar Simante directed by Tarun Majumdar.

Among his other famous films are Ganadebata, Harmonium, Bhalobasa Bhalobasa, Pratima, Prafulla, Shesh Rakkha, Dadamoni, Kalankini kankaboti, Hemanter Pakhi, Tagari.

He was also popular on the small screen where he worked in hit serials like Ishti Kutum, Jol Nupur, Kusum Dola and Andarmahal.

Mukhopadhyay learnt dance from Gopal Bhattacharya and lent his gifted voice to a number of songs in films, His Rabindra Sangeet rendition "gopono kathati rabe na gopone'' in Bhalobasa Bhalobasa and aamar hriday tomar apon hater dole' in Parabat Priya got praise from both high-nosed critics and the common cinema goers.