‘End of an era’: Bollywood mourns iconic actor Soumitra Chatterjee

Bollywood on Sunday mourned the demise of legendary Bengali actor and Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner Soumitra Chatterjee. Chatterjee, 85, was admitted in Belle Vue Hospital, Kolkata in October and was put in the ICU after testing positive for COVID-19. He later tested negative but suffered complications that led to his death.

Conveying his condolences to the family of the late actor on Twitter, actor Anil Kapoor called him “a legend and an inspiration”.

Paresh Rawal too paid an emotional tribute to Chatterjee and tweeted, “Soumitra Chatterji. An self-effacing actor. Om Shanti.”

By sharing a picture of the iconic duo — filmmaker Satyajit Ray and Chatterjee, veteran actor Raj Babbar wrote on Twitter in Hindi: “Soumitra Chatterjee was a veteran actor who has passed away today. He started his acting journey from Satyajit Roy’s ‘Apur Sansar’ and an award like Dada Saheb Phalke Award is the example of his acting skills and his ease while delivering them. While performing the characters, he used to forget everything. Saumitra da, will miss you very much.”

Randeep Hooda tweeted, “The end of an era .. RIP Legend #SoumitraChatterjee.”

Richa Chadha also mourned Chatterjee’s passing away and shared an old photo of him with his frequent collaborator Satyajit Ray. She tweeted, “RIP Soumitra Chatterjee! You live on through your work for eternity! Thank you for the movies. A big, big loss to the world of cinema and art. An era has indeed ended with no one in sight to fill the void.”

Reacting to the news, Manoj Bajpayee tweeted, “Tragic loss!! Rest in peace Sir!! Your contribution to the Indian Cinema will always be remembered and inspire the generations to come !!”

Rahul Bose also shared a throwback picture with Chatterjee on Instagram and wrote a long note. His note read, “There was a time when I went on a #SatyajitRay films watching spree and Soumitrada was in most of them. So working with him in #15ParkAvenue felt surreal. Needless to say I incessantly asked questions about cinema, Ray, his working style etc. He answered everything with generosity and warmth. Rest in peace, Soumitrada. #SoumitraChatterjee (Obviously that’s @konkona in the image too. Probably from one of the post release functions of 15Park).”

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar shared a picture with the late actor on his Twitter account and said that he will always remember his interaction with the soft-spoken Chatterjee during 54th National Award function. “Sad to hear demise of Padma Bhushan awardee #SoumitraChatterjee,Will always remember my interaction with Soft spoken actor during 54th National Award function for film #TrafficSignal, which was very encouraging and inspiring. My Condolences to his family and admirers. #OmShanti,” he wrote.

Actress Soha Ali Khan posted two pictures of Chatterjee along with her mother Sharmila Tagore on her Instagram Stories. Chatterjee and Tagore together worked in films such as ‘Apu Sansar’. In one of the images, Khan wrote: “We will miss you.”

Actress Sayani Gupta wrote: “Soumitra Chatterjee, Feluda, leaves us. Numb. An era, one generation, a huge legacy gone. Gave 70 years to the Silver Screen. In Heavens right now.”