Veteran hairstylist Shekhar Adhikary dies after prolonged battle with throat cancer

Veteran hairstylist Shekhar Adhikary died in a private nursing home on Wednesday evening after a prolonged battle with throat cancer. He was over 60. Adhikary served as the president of Hair Stylist Guild for several years. Apart from working with the top actresses of Bengali cinema, he also deeply involved in theatre.

Joyosree Das, the current secretary of the Hair Stylist Guild, hailed Adhikary as the last pillar of the union. “I have done quite a few non-fiction works with him over the past two decades. He was a colleague of my father, who was a hairdresser as well. However, he was quite friendly with us and never put on airs despite having worked in several big projects,” said Das.

Known for his jolly nature, Adhikary was a part of the industry for 26 years and some of his notable works include Nabab (1991), Nilimay Neel (1991), Iti Mrinalini (2011) and Dutta Vs Dutta (2012).

“He taught us the nuances of hairstyling with great care. I used to look on in awe when he used to style actresses and observe his finesse. I am not sure whether I will ever achieve 10% of his accomplishments,” said Das, recalling how actresses would be relieved to have him as their hairdresser. Adhikary was experienced in make-up as well.

As the president of the guild, Adhikary would often come to his junior colleagues' assistance. “Whenever there was a general meeting, I used to ask him to sit beside me and guide me,” said Das.

Adhikary was in an extremely critical condition and had difficulty swallowing food in his last days. “I often feel that we had not done enough for him. His treatment had been going for a long time but he was such a carefree and brave man that he tried his best to put on a brave face. However, in his last days, he suffered a lot,” said Das.

Actress Sudiptaa Chakraborty put up a long status on Facebook, reminiscing about her experiences with the veteran artiste. She mentioned that Adhikary never spoke about his relatives as he regarded the people on the sets as family. However, he was quite close to the cabaret dancer and actress Miss Shefali.

Chakraborty also expressed sadness about film technicians and crew members not being given enough recognition as she spoke of Adhikary’s storied career.