Veteran actor Monu Mukherjee dies of cardiac arrest at 90

Veteran actor Monu Mukherjee died of cardiac arrest at the age of 90 on Sunday morning. The actor had been suffering from heart ailments since the past few years. Mukherjee, who has a wife and two daughters, last appeared in Sayantan Ghoshal’s Alinagarer Golokdhadha (2018).

Born Sourendranath Amarendranath Mukhopadhyay on 1 March 1930 in Kolkata, Mukherjee dreamed of becoming an actor from an early age. He joined the city's Biswarupa theatre as a prompter in 1957 and appeared before an audience for the first time in the play Khudha. Though Mukherjee was employed as a clerk at the Calcutta high court, he eventually quit his job to follow his passion.

Mukherjee made his first silver screen appearance in Mrinal Sen’s Neel Akasher Neechey (1959). However, his unique style and captivating screen presence received recognition after he appeared as Machhlibaba in Satyajit Ray’s Joi Baba Felunath (1979). He continued to leave his mark with performances in Ashani Sanket (1973), Mrigaya (1976), Ganadevata (1979), Shet Patharer Thala (1992), Patalghar (2003) and Bakita Byaktigato (2013).

In 2015, the veteran actor was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tele Samman Awards.

The West Bengal Motion Picture Artist’s Forum expressed condolences to the family of the artiste in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Director Pratim D Gupta, who worked with Mukherjee in Ahare Mon (2018), shared one of his fondest memories of the artiste in a Facebook post. "During the shooting of Ahare Mon, he held my hands and said: "Bhoole jeo naa kintu aamake. Aabar deko (But don’t forget me. Call me again)." He was 88 and raring to go, asking after every shot if he'd got it right. They don't make 'em like Monu Mukherjee anymore," he wrote.