Binodon Desk:

The news of celebrated actor Soumitra Chatterjee’s demise left not only the Indian film fraternity aghast but also Dhallywood personalities like Shakib Khan and Jaya Ahsan among others.

Popularly known as the “thinking Bengali’s hero”, the legendary Indian thespian died at a private hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Sunday, after contracting Covid last month. He was 85.

Not only Indian film personalities, Bangladesh actors also paid heartwarming tributes to the departed soul on Sunday.

Dhallywood superstar Shakib Khan took to social media to share his thoughts: “Wherever you live, no matter how you live — you will be in our hearts. Goodbye, the legend.”

Arifin Shuvoo, another Bangladeshi superstar, also mourned the loss of Chatterjee: “Stay well with your old pals, see you at the end of the day.”

Celebrated actress Jaya Ahsan, who is popular both in Bangladesh and West Bengal, posted an eulogy. “When he shed the glory of acting on the screen through portraying the character’s behaviour, it was not just a wonderful incident in the art-sphere of the Indian subcontinent — it was the beginning of a new era.”

“He cemented his position as one of the front-row actors in the world of cinema. Despite being the artisan from that history, the artist who rose to the top, he was like an ocean. That ocean is Atlantic, but calm. He is not dead!” the actress said.

Popular actor Chanchal Chowdhury also paid tribute to the Indian actor. “Hats off with respect, o legendary actor… Soumitra Chatterjee.” Ziaul Faruk Apurba, another popular television actor and model, shared an image of the actor with the caption, “The end of an era. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”

Quoting one of his iconic dialogues, actress and Miss World Bangladesh 2018 Oishee tweeted: “Everyone got off at the next station, I walked alone”, along with the hashtag “#Immeasurable_loss.”

Sharing a fact on the legendary Indian actor, film director Fakhrul Arefeen Khan wrote, “One thing I would love to share for those who don’t know more details about him. He is a son of our Soil. His village name was Kyaa, Harirampur Thana, Kushtia.”

“He was also a grandson (Paternal) of #BaghaJatin who was a revolutionary leader during the British era. At the age of 13, he left Kushtia towards West Bengal. And now he remains a hero in our memories across the world,” he said.

Sahana Bajpaie, a renowned Bengali singer-songwriter from Santiniketan and one of the most prominent contemporary Rabindra Sangeet vocalists in Bangladesh and India, also shared her fond memories with a throwback photo of her with Chatterjee.

“There will be no one like you. Rest in peace my Feluda, my Apu, my Uday Pandit, and my ideologically possessed and ravishingly sinister but charming Sandeep. Growing up would’ve never been the same without you,” she wrote on social media.