Tapas Pal, veteran Bengali actor and former TMC MP, passes away at 61 in Mumbai

Veteran
Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal passed away on Tuesday
morning at the age of 61 at a private hospital in Mumbai. Pal is survived by
his wife Nandini Paul, who is a contestant in this year’s Bigg Boss Bangla, and
their daughter Sohini, who is also an actor.

Paul, who
had gone to Mumbai to visit his daughter, complained of chest pain at the
Mumbai airport during his return to Kolkata and was rushed to a hospital in
Juhu but died around 4:00 am, family sources said.

He had been
suffering from heart ailments and been to hospitals several times for treatment
during the past two years.

Born on
September 29, 1958, Pal made his debut in Bengali cinema at the age of 22 and
shot to fame with his debut film Dadar Kirti, which was critically acclaimed,
in 1980. Soon, Pal emerged as the blue-eyed boy of the Tollywood industry and
managed to garner a huge fanfare.

Pal won
accolades for films like Saheb (1981), Parabat Priya (1984), Bhalobasa
Bhalobasa (1985), Anurager Choyan (1986), Amar Bandhan (1986) and Guru Dakshina
(1987). Pal won a Filmfare Award for his role in Saheb. Pal also worked in Bollywood
films. He was also cast opposite Madhuri Dixit in his first Bollywood movies
“Abodh”.

Veteran
Bengali actor Ranjit Mallick described Paul’s death as “untimely”.

A two-term
MP from Krishnanagar and MLA from Alipore, Pal was one of the first actors to
add sheen to the TMC with his star power in the 2009 assembly elections in West
Bengal that decimated the Left Front and elected Mamata Banerjee as the Chief
Minister of the state.

In the 2014
Lok Sabha elections, Pal won from the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency on a
Trinamool Congress ticket. That year, Pal had raked up a storm with his
comments where he threatened to kill CPI(M) workers on camera and have their
women raped if any of his party workers were attacked.

Pal was
arrested in 2016 by the CBI for his alleged involvement in Rose Valley group
chit fund scam. He was believed to be a former director with the Rose Valley
group. Pal, was granted bail after 13 months and hence remained away from
films.

The Rose
Valley Group chit fund scam is believed to be allegedly bigger than the Saradha
one.