Farewell, dear friend

An actor breathing his last while shooting.
There couldn���t have been a better place to bid adieu ��� greasepaint on the face, costumes ready and lines all rehearsed. But for those whom an actor leaves behind when he actually breathes his last on the sets ��� his colleagues and even the spot boys and extras ��� it seems too surreal for acceptance. Isn���t it just another death scene? Isn���t someone from somewhere going to actually say ���CUT��� for the actor to jump up from bed and say: ���Shot ta thik chhilo?���
The whole of Tollywood came down to a city studio when news of actor Kunal Mitra���s death spread early on Wednesday morning.A chest pain on the sets of Utsaver Ratri before he collapsed on co-star Anjana Basu���s lap left many to wonder about how insecure life is and how fragile every dream is when it takes only a few minutes to burn the ego of being one from the world of glam and glory to ashes. As the industry came together to pay respect, CT spoke to a few who shared their long association with the actor.
Ferdous Ahmed, Actor
My association with Kunalda goes back to my first Tollywood venture. He was one of the first friends I had made here. Not for once did he make me feel like an outsider. I���d often tell him that he resembles the legendary Uttam Kumar from certain angles. That would immediately make him burst into fits of laughter. He exuded a natural charm and would automatically draw people towards him.
Kaushik Sen, Actor
In a sentence, Kunalda was perhaps the only
person in Tollywood who didn���t have a single enemy. With him around, it was always a party on the sets. He���d crack jokes, play pranks and wouldn���t let anyone (including
seasoned actors to
technicians) get bored.
Saswata Chatterjee, actor
I belonged to Kunalda���s core group of friends. We���d have a lot of fun together on the sets, and off it. He���d automatically make the depressed happy. Honestly speaking, Kunalda���s death is more of a shocker than my dad���s!
Chaiti Ghoshal, actor
We often come across good actors, but a human being like him is hard to find. We would often talk on the phone. Recently, when I told him that I had got myself a pair of
spectacles for a certain sum, he told me he could have got the same thing for a much lower price. That was his common joke. He would always tell me that I had a habit of spending far more than was required.
Debleena Dutta, actor
I met him a
couple of days back at Suman���s
wedding. He was his usual jovial self
making sure that everyone around him enjoyed
to the fullest. That was Kunalda ��� always full of energy.
Team CT