Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke winning filmmaker Mrinal Sen passed away aged 95 on 30 December in his Bhawanipore apartment in Kolkata at 10.30 am, writes Scroll .
He is best known for films like Ek Din Achanak, Padatik, Baishey Shravana and Mrigayaa.
Influenced by French New Wave directors, he is often considered one of the first to pave way for parallel cinema in India, along with his contemporaries Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.
According to Anand Bazaar Patrika , he was born in Faridpur, present-day Bangladesh and studied physics at Scottish Church College, Kolkata. His first film was Raat Bhore in 1955, followed by Neele Akasher Neechey. He gained national and international exposure after Bhuvan Shome.
He is also a member of Indian People’s Theatre Association. Sen’s wife Gita, died in 2017 and he is survived by his son Kunal.
Many public figures mourned the loss of the filmmaker.
Sad to learn of the passing of acclaimed film-maker Mrinal Sen. From Bhuvan Shome to the Calcutta trilogy, his penetrating and sensitive portrayal of social realities made him a fine chronicler of our times. A loss to Bengal, to India and to the world of cinema #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) December 30, 2018
Mrinal Sen’s passing away is a big loss not only to Cinema but to the world of Culture & India's civilisational values. Mrinal da radicalised Cinematography by his people-centric humanistic narrative. Deepest condolences. https://t.co/SXkwr5NQKf
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) December 30, 2018
Saddened at the passing away of Mrinal Sen. A great loss to the film industry. My condolences to his family
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 30, 2018
One of the doyens of cinema #mrinalsen passed away. It was our good fortune that we could get shabana azmi to his residence this year and present him with the Filmfare lifetime achievement award. The magic of #khandhar #akalersandhney #kharij #ekdinpratidin #calcutta71 lingers pic.twitter.com/8vcUiGqLxm
— J (@jiteshpillaai) December 30, 2018