Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee tests positive for COVID-19, admitted to Kolkata hospital

Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee has tested positive for COVID-19, his daughter Poulomi Basu said on Tuesday. He has been admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata in the morning, she said. The 85-year-old actor had a fever for the last three days and he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday night, she added. “Baba (father) is stable now. He is fully conscious. He is under observation due to his advancing age,” Basu told Press Trust of India. Chatterjee has been shifted to a cabin, a spokesperson of the hospital said. In the last two months, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award- winning actor had been shooting for a biopic and a documentary on his life. India Today writes that Chatterjee, along with Parambrata Chatterjee along with Jisshu Sengupta, star in the biopic titled Abhijaan. Chatterjee is best known for his collaborations with Satyajit Ray, especially in immortalising the character Feluda, a detective, onscreen. His debut was Ray’s 1959 film Apur Sansar, part of the Apu trilogy. Charulata, Devi, Teen Kanya, Ghare Baire, Ganashatru are among his other projects with Ray. According to NDTV, Chatterjee’s last role was in 2019’s Sanjhbati, also starring Paoli Dam and Lily Chakravarty. Chatterjee has been awarded with the Padam Bhushan (2004) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Taogre Ratna (2012). He also received three National Awards for his performances in Antardhan (1991), Dekha (2000), and Podokkhep (2006). (With inputs from Press Trust of India)