Renowned fiction writer, Samaresh Majumdar passed away at Kolkata, on Monday, May 8. Indian actress Paoli Dam shares some anecdotes from his life.
Dam was introduced to Majumdar when she played the female protagonist in the film “Kaalbela” based on his story which was directed by Goutam Ghose.
The actress received news of his passing while shooting a film in Mumbai. Stunned by the loss the Paoli Dam states: “Before I met him, I read Samareshda's work. I got to know him personally while doing 'Kaalbela'. This was during the end of 2006. We started shooting for 'Kaalbela' in 2007, but before that I had the occasional chat with Samareshda. We spoke of everything, from work, movies, literature to food, he had an equal interest in everything. He has this unique sense of humour, he told the funniest stories that always made me laugh.”
Quoting Samaresh Majumdar's extraordinary love for Bangladesh, Pauli states: “He once told me, ‘I have this pull towards the Bengal on the other side'. I was born in Kolkata, but I myself am from Faridpur. When he heard I was from Faridpur, he could not stop telling me his tales. The food from the other side, the people, everything.”
Reminiscing about how she created her character of "Madhabilata” in the movie “Kaalbela”, Pauli Dam said: “It can be said that Madhabilata was my first important role. Madhabilata is a symbol of love itself, I had not come across the responsibility of playing such a strong individual yet. The character itself holds a special place in the hearts of Bangalis. So I tried various ways to become Madhabilata. When the film was finally made, Samareshda saw it, and he told me something that felt like a huge certificate. He asked me, ‘I don't see any difference between my writing of Madhabilata and your character on screen. How did you do that?'. It is quite a treat to hear that from the author himself.”
Paoli Dam expressed her grief at being unable to meet Samaresh Majumdar in recent times. Noting her regret, the actress said: “We had a very beautiful relationship. There were many times where he asked me to come over just to talk. I had been to his office, his house, many times. However, the pandemic cut off contact with a lot of people, unfortunately Samareshda was one of them. But, I never imagined I would not be able to see him again. I still haven't fully wrapped my head around it.”
Apart from Paoli Dam, many other Tollywood stars are mourning the demise of Samaresh Majumdar. Prosenjit Chatterjee, Sreelekha Mitra, Srijit Mukherjee and many others have expressed their grief on social media.