Bengali Actor and Former MP Tapas Pal Dies at 61

Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress MLA, MP Tapas Pal died in Mumbai on February 18 after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 61.

Tapas Pal had gone to Mumbai to visit his daughter, and had complained of chest pain at the airport during his return to Kolkata and was rushed to a hospital in Juhu but died around 4 am.

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

Veteran Bengali actor Ranjit Mallick described Pal's death as "untimely". "I am yet to come to terms with the news. Yes, he was not keeping well for some time," Mallick said.


Born in West Bengal's Chandannagar, Tapas Pal completed his graduation from the Hooghly Mohsin College in Bio-Science. In 1980, Tapas Pal made his debut in the Bengali film industry with Tarun Majumdar's Dadar Kirti opposite Mahua Roychoudhury. The film co-starred Debashree Roy and Sandhya Roy. His debut film was a block bluster. Tapas Pal was paired opposite Mahua Roychoudhury, Debashree Roy and Shatabdi Roy in many films. 

Four years after his first film, Tapas Pal made his debut in Bollywood with Abodh in 1984 and was cast opposite Madhuri Dixit. The Hiren Nag-directed film also marked Madhuri's debut in the Hindi film industry.

Tapas Pal, who had a long history of heart problems, was admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai, where he had gone to meet his daughter in January.

Tapas Pal moved away from both cinema and active politics after the CBI arrested him in the Rose Valley chit-fund scam in December 2016, but was trying hard to come back to normal life.

According to Nandini Pal, the actor was taken to the hospital on February 1 after he fell ill at the Mumbai airport on his way to the United States for treatment. The actor-politician was on the ventilator till February 6.

"He was taken off the ventilator and was recovering, but suddenly his condition worsened and he died of cardiac arrest around 3:30 am on Tuesday," Nandini Pal told.


Tapas Pal had been suffering from heart ailments and been in and out of hospitals for treatment during the past two years.

Tapas Pal was last seen in 2013's Khiladi.

Tapas Pal is survived by his wife Nandini and their daughter Sohini Paul.