Manoj Mitra, doyen of Bengali theatre, passes away

Actor-director-playwright Manoj Mitra breathed his on Tuesday at 8.50 am at a private hospital in Kolkata. He was 86. He was suffering from multiple age-related health problems. His brother author Amar Mitra confirmed the news to OTTplay. 

When contacted, Amar Mitra said, “He was admitted to the hospital around 10 days ago. Dada passed away at 8.50 am today.”  

Manoj Mitra was hospitalised multiple times this year. He had severe chest congestion. He also underwent pacemaker surgery. Later, when one of his brother Udayan Mitra breathed his last this year, Manoj Mitra was again admitted to a hospital.  

Manoj Mitra was the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademy Award for Best Playwright, Dinabandhu Puraskar, West Bengal State Government Award for Best Playwright and many other accolades. He worked with Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Basu Chatterjee, Tarun Majumdar, Shakti Samanta and Goutam Ghose. His legendary performance as Bancharam in Bancharamer Bagan is bright chapter in Bengali cinema. Manoj Mitra immortalised the character of Hajari Thakur in Raja Sen’s television adaptation of Adarsha Hindu Hotel for Doordarshan. His roles in Satyajit Ray's Ghare Baire and Ganashatru will also be remembered.