Renowned actor Tapas Pal – rated as one of the biggest superstars of Bengali films in the post-Uttam Kumar era – who also served two terms as Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP, died following a cardiac arrest at a Mumbai hospital yesterday, family sources said.
Pal, 61, is survived by his wife Nandini and actor-daughter Sohini.
Grappling with neurological disorders and multiple other problems which affected his speech and locomotion, Paul was admitted to the Holy Child Hospital on February 1 and put on ventilator support.
His condition improved, and the actor-politician was taken off the ventilator on February 6. However, he was put back on the ventilator on Monday after his condition deteriorated suddenly.
He was also the actor opposite whom noted actress Madhuri Dixit marked her debut in Bollywood in the 1984 film Abodh directed by Hiren Nag.
Pal was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Krishnanagar constituency in 2009 and 2014. Prior to that, he was a member of the West Bengal assembly twice in 2001 and 2006.
He made a big bang entry into Bengali films, essaying the role of the protagonist – a simpleton with a heart of gold – in the evergreen romantic comedy Dadar Kirti (1980) directed by Tarun Majumdar.
It was the same year when Bengali cinema’s greatest hero Uttam Kumar passed away. The huge box office success of Dadar Kriti and the soulful Tagore songs on his lips (sung by Hemanta Mukherjee) ensured the boy next door actor never had to look back, as he came up with memorable performances in lead roles of family dramas like Saheb (1981), Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985) and Pathbhola (1986). He was also feted for his role as a wrestler in Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Utttara.
Armed with a refreshing smile and good looks, Pal portrayed the hero in a large number of Bengali films through the next two decades, including in blockbusters like Parabat Priya (1984), Amar Bandhan and Anurager Choyan (both 1986) and Gurudakshina (1987). Khiladi (2013) was his last film.
Pal won the Filmfare award in 1981 for his role in Saheb, and was also given a special award by the West Bengal government in 2012. However, the last few years of his life saw Pal land in several controversies.
In 2014, a video of his speech warning Marxist workers and threatening to “destroy your entire clan” and “unleash my boys” went viral, causing widespread outrage across the nation. Pal later issued a written apology, but his image had by then sustained an immense damage.