Swatilekha Sengupta's death leaves film fraternity in shock

Bengali cinema struck by yet another blow! Veteran actor Swatilekha Sengupta breathed his last at a Kolkata hospital on Wednesday afternoon. The 71-year-old actress was under treatment for a long time for kidney-related issues.

One of Swatilekha Sengupta's recent Bengali films, ‘

Bela Sheshe

’ starring the late Soumitra Chattopadhyay became a milestone in the history of Bengali cinema while her natural acting earned critical acclaim. For Bengali cine lovers her demise is like an end of an era.

Filmmaker Raj Chakrabarty whose upcoming film ‘Darmajuddho’ has Swatilekha as one of the leads was left in shock after he heard the news. He tweeted: "A huge and irreparable loss. Veteran actor and theatre personality Swatilekha Sengupta is no more. May her soul rest in peace (sic)."

Srijit Mukherji tweeted:

Actor and theatre personality Kaushik Sen says it's an irreplaceable loss for both stage and cinema. Seasoned actor Debshankar Haldar, too, is at a loss of a word. According to him, it's the end of an era.
Swatilekha, married to famous thespian and founder of Nandikar Rudraprasad Sengupta, was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for her immense contribution towards Indian theatre as an actor. Swatilekha's daughter Sohini Sengupta is also an acclaimed actor, well-known for her on stage and screen appearances.

The veteran actress had started her career in theatre in Allahabad in the 70s, under the direction of legendary AC Banerjee. She also worked with legends like

BV Karanth

, Tapas Sinha and Khaled Chowdhury. Swatilekha’s most memorable performance came in Satyajit Ray's 'Ghare Baire' as Bimola.