Veteran Bengali actor Manoj Mitra passes away at 85 after health issues

Kolkata: Famous Bengali theatre personality Manoj Mitra, known for writing and directing farces and fantasies to highlight social and political issues, died on Tuesday in a hospital here due to old-age related ailments, family sources said.

Mitra was 86.

According to a doctor, Mitra breathed his last at around 8.50 am on Tuesday.

"He was admitted to the hospital on November 3 with several illnesses. His condition kept on deteriorating and today at around 8.50 am he left us," the doctor told PTI.

The octogenarian was earlier admitted to hospital on September 20 with breathing issues, imbalance of sodium and potassium among other health-related issues, doctors said. He was discharged from the hospital on September end.

Famous for his stellar performance in Tapan Sinha's film 'Banchharamer Bagan', Mitra has also acted in the legendary director Satyajit Ray's classics such as 'Ghare Baire' and 'Ganashatru'. Bancharamer Bagan was based on Mitra's play 'Sajano Bagaan'.

Known for his comedy and antagonist roles, Mitra has also acted in films of Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Basu Chatterjee, Tarun Majumdar, Shakti Samanta and Goutam Ghose.