Anand star Sumita Sanyal passes away aged 71

Yesteryear actress Sumita Sanyal, who has acted in several Bengali and Hindi films, passed away on Sunday, July 9, at the age of 71. She breathed her last at her Deshapriya Park residence in Kolkata. 

Sanyal had acted opposite Dilip Kumar in the critically acclaimed Tapan Sinha-directed Sagina Mahato, and opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic Anand. 

She had also acted in Nayak, the film starring Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar and directed by Oscar-winner Satyajit Ray. The director had called the film one of his most perfect presentations. 

Sanyal also acted in Mere Apne, a film both written and directed by the legendary Gulzar. She had also starred in the Tapan Sinha directorial Apanjan, which was remade almost frame by frame into Mere Apne. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled her death, tweeting: "Saddened at the passing of veteran actress Sumita Sanyal. My condolences to her family, friends and fans. [sic]"

Who was Sumita Sanyal?

Born in 1945 in the hills of Darjeeling in what was then British India, she was initially named Manjula.

However, she was rechristened Sucharita by director Bibhuti Laha, who belonged to the Bengali film technicians' collective Agradoot.

That was the name she donned for the 1960 film Khokababur Pratyabartan, based on the Rabindranath Tagore story of the same name. 

It was director Kanak Mukhopadhyay who gave her the name Sumita, and it stuck throughout her professional life. 

She went on to star in several films from 1960 to 1971, with a few more between 1974 and 1976, before settling down into marital bliss.