Mithuda guided me like a senior co-actor: Rituparna Sengupta

Rituparna Sengepta

found herself in shock after hearing the news of actor Abhishek Chatterjee’s demise. The actress, who is currently shooting in Gujarat, spoke to us over phone and expressed her condolences to his family. The actor passed away after suffering from cardiac arrest on Wednesday night.

“This is just unbelievable.

Mithuda

(Abhishek Chatterjee) and I worked in many films and we gave super duper hit films. At one point of time, we used to be a hit jodi, and producers and directors used to bank on us. Swapan Saha’s Sujan Sakhi was a blockbuster. In fact, I worked with him in Rituparno Ghosh’s Dahan, the film that gave me the National Award,” Rituparna told us.

The actress also remembered him as a ‘mischief maker’ on the floors. “He was a prankster full of life. He used to crack jokes and fool people – all innocent pranks. And he used to love to eat. He used to cook phenomenally. I remember he used to pack a portion of lunch for me too. That’s what I remember very fondly,” she said.

From Prabhat Roy’s Lathi to Tarun Majumder’s Alo and several other films – Rituparna worked with Abhishek Chatterjee in more than 25 films. They were last seen together in Nilachale Kiriti. At one point of time, their close relationship was talk of the town. “The rumour mill was in full flow for days. I was very young then and Mithuda used to guide me like a senior co-actor. When my grandmother passed away, he was there with me. We were friends. In fact, he spoke very highly about me to Rituda (Rituparno Ghosh). Now both of them are gone,” she remembered.

Rituparna

also mentioned that her interaction with Abhishek Chatterjee became less in recent years. “There were certain misunderstandings but he called and we made up. However, we did not keep in touch in recent years regularly. But all of us in the Bengali film industry will remember his contribution in the field. He gave numerous blockbuster hit films in a time when the industry was struggling. He will be missed,” Rituparna said.