Uma Dasgupta, who acted as Durga in Satyajit Ray classic Pather Panchali died in the city after prolonged illness.
She was 85 years old and was suffering for quite some time. Her condition deteriorated from last night and she breathed her last this morning.
Satyajit Ray, who directed Pather Panchali approached Uma’s parents and after getting their permission gave her the role of Durga, one of the key characters of the movie. She was just 18 years, when she acted in the film. Dasgupta, a teenager, had acted brilliantly which was appreciated globally. Pather Panchali got the Golden Bear award in the Berlin film festival in 1957. This was Ray’s first film whose music was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar and the cameraman was Subrata Mitra.
Dasgupta taught in a private school and was a popular actor in Bengali stage.