Veteran Bengali actor Swatilekha Sengupta died at a hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon after a long battle with kidney ailments. She was 71 and survived by husband Rudraprasad Sengupta and daughter Sohini. She was undergoing treatment at the private hospital for the last 24 days after being admitted there with renal problems. She died around 3 pm, Sohini told PTI. Swatilekha, a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, was one of the spearheads of theatre group Nandikar along with her husband and daughter.
She also played the character of Arati in Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy's blockbuster 'Bela Seshe'. She started her career in 1984 with late actor Soumitra Chatterjee and Victor Banerjee. Mourning the actress on Twitter, renowned Bengali film director Srijit Mukherji wrote: "Anti, gone. RIP Swatilekha Sengupta." Raj Chakrabarty, whose forthcoming project Dharmajuddha will mark Swatilekha Sengupta's last film, tweeted: "A huge and irreparable loss. Swatilekha Sengupta's performance as Bimala in Satyajit Ray's 1984 film Ghare Baire alongside Soumitra Chatterjee is still remembered by many. Soumitra Chatterjee died of COVID-19 in November last year.