Born on
January 19, 1935, veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee always knew what his true
passion was. He started his acting journey in his school days. Though, the
turning point came when Chatterjee diverted to the theatre in the final year of
college. That did add up to why he was the first film personality from India
who received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest award for
artists.

Starting
with his debut film ‘Apur Sansar’ in 1959, Chatterjee went on to work with the
Oscar-winning film director Satyajit Ray and was part of many of his celebrated
films. ‘Abhijan’, ‘Charulata’, ‘Ashani Sanket’, ‘Sonar Kella’ and ‘Joi Baba
Felunath’ are just to name a few.

The
85-year-old Bengali actor also worked with several other well-known directors
including Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen and Anjan Das. One
of his roles that earned critical acclaim was of an imposter in Mrinal Sen’s
‘Akash Kusum’.

After
having a successful two-year career in the Bengali film industry, Chatterjee
returned to his first love– theatre– in 1978 and produced ‘Naam Jiban’. He
also directed several other plays including ‘Rajkumar’, ‘Phera’ and ‘Tiktiki’,
which were quite notable at that time.

The
Kolkata-born actor bagged several awards throughout his career. By winning the
prestigious Padma Bhushan to Sangeet Natak Akademi Award to Dadasaheb Falke
Award, Chatterjee won hearts of his fans every single time. Besides this, he
received the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards eight time in his
lifetime.

The
personality also made India proud on so many levels. He received the Officier
des Arts et Metiers, the highest award for arts given by the French government,
and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Italy. The actor was the subject of a
full-length documentary named ‘Gaach’ by French film director Catherine Berge.

The death
of the filmstar certainly left a void in the Indian film industry, one that is
tough to fill in upcoming decades. Yet the immortal characters of his will
remain with us forever.