Kolkata: Veteran Bengali director and four times national award winner Tarun Majumdar died at the age of 92 at SSKM hospital on Monday morning at 11:17 am due to age-related ailments. After his condition deteriorated on Sunday evening, he was put on a ventilator. Majumdar was admitted to the hospital on July 14.
According to his will, the body will be donated to the government hospital.
“He didn’t want any extra spotlight during his last rites and wanted to donate his body and cornea. In keeping with his last wish without any extra grandeur his body was taken to the technician studio before donating the same at the anatomy department of SSKM hospital,” said the hospital sources.
According to most of the senior Bengali actors, they lost an institution and a ‘father’ figure.
Veteran actor Ranjit Mullick said that he had learnt a lot while he did a Bengali film ‘Chander Bari’ with Tarun Majumdar.
Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee said that Majumdar was a ‘father’ figure to him and also that with his demise is ‘end of an era’ of Bengali cinema.
Actor Debashree Roy said that she was made an ‘actor’ by Tapan Majumdar.
“Tapan uncle has made several celebrities and I am one of them. My name Debasree Roy is also given by him,” she said.
Majumdar won four national awards and was even given the Padma Shri.
Apart from Tollywood celebrities, the politicians also mourned the death of the veteran Bengali director.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking to Twitter condoled the death of the veteran Tollywood director.
Ace Bollywood actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty said that there was a ‘sweetness’ in Majumdar’s movies and he also lauded the way Majumdar had used the songs penned by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in his movies.
Majumdar was born during British India and his father Late Birendranath Majumdar was a freedom fighter. He started his career with Dilip Mukhopadhyay and Sachin Mukhopadhyay and formed a company called ‘Jantrik’. Later Majumdar left Jantrik and independently made versatile films like ‘Balika Bodhu’, ‘Dadar Kirti’, ‘Sreeman Prthiwiraj’, ‘Bhalobasha Bhalobasha’, ‘Chander Bari’, ‘Apon amar Apon’ and ‘Alo’.
He made his directorial debut alongside Sachin Mukherji and Dilip Mukherji, under the screen name Yatrik, with the 1959 Bengali film 'Chaowa Pawa'.
Majumdar went on to direct blockbusters such as 'Balika Badhu' in 1967, 'Kuheli' in 1971, 'Shriman Prithviraj' in 1973, 'Fuleswari' in 1974, 'Dadar Kirti' in 1980, 'Bhalobasa Bhalobasa' in 1985 and 'Apan Amar Apan' in 1990.
He's the recipient of four National Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards and an Anandalok Award. The Government of India honoured him with the fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 1990.
