Swatilekha Sengupta passes away

Noted actor Swatilekha Sengupta passed away at a hospital in Kolkata yesterday after a long battle with kidney ailments.

She was 71.

She left behind her husband Rudraprasad Sengupta and daughter Sohini Sengupta. She was undergoing treatment at the private hospital, after being admitted there with renal problems.

All India Trinamool Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and filmmaker Raj Chakraborty tweeted, "A huge and irreplaceable loss."

Chakroborty's upcoming project Dharmajuddha will mark Swatilekha Sengupta's last film.

Onir, who produced Swatilekha Sengupta's critically-acclaimed film Chauranga in 2016, wrote, "Very sad to hear about #SwatilekhaSengupta… Gone too soon."

Swatilekha Sengupta started her career as a theatre artiste in Allahabad in the early 1970s.

She joined the theatre group Nandikar in 1978. In that group, she worked under director Rudraprasad Sengupta, whom she later married.

Rudraprasad Sengupta is an actor and cultural critic as well. The couple's daughter, Sohini, is also a theatre artiste.

Furthermore, Swatilekha Sengupta was cast by Satyajit Ray for the portrayal of the character Bimala in "Ghare Baire", which was based on Rabindranath Tagore's eponymous novel.

She also played the character of Arati in Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy's blockbuster "Bela Seshe".

In both films, she was cast opposite Soumitra Chatterjee. The pair also worked together in Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy's upcoming film Bela Shuru, which will mark their last project together.

For her contribution to the theatre industry, she won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2011.

The actor was awarded the West Bengal Theatre Journalists' Association award. She also received Paschim Banga Natya Akademi Award.

She was last seen in Sudip Chakraborty's 2019 film Barof.