Bangladesh-born Indian filmmaker Tarun Majumdar died at a hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Monday. He was 92.
Majumdar passed away at Kolkata's premier government-owned SSKM Hospital where he had been undergoing treatment for age-related illnesses for the past couple of days, his family members told the media.
Born in Bangladesh's Bogura district in January 1931, Majumdar won four National Film Awards in his career spanning over six decades. His movies focused on tales of middle-class families in Bengal.
He was honored with Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award in 1990.
Majumdar made his directorial debut, under the screen name Yatrik, with the 1959 hit Bengali film “Chaowa Pawa” starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen.
He made blockbuster movies such as “Balika Badhu”, “Kancher Swargo”, “Kuheli”, “Nimantran”, “Ganadevata”, “Aranya Aamar”, and “Dadar Kirti”. His wife Sandhya Roy acted in lead roles in 20 of his films.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ruling Trinamool Congress party and several film celebrities took to social media to express their grief at the demise of the veteran filmmaker.
"Indian Cinema has lost an icon today! We are crestfallen at the demise of the great Padma Shri awardee Tarun Majumdar. His notable works based on compelling themes contributed greatly to Bengali cinema," the Trinamool Congress tweeted.
Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee tweeted: "Heartfelt condolences to Jethu's family and well-wishers."
“Tarun Majumdar moves on. One of our greatest storytellers and whose films I learned from,” wrote filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh.
