KOLKATA: Veteran Bengali film and television actor Tamal Roy Choudhury died on Monday, family sources said.
Roy Choudhury, who was 80, died of cardiac arrest in his sleep at his south Kolkata residence, they said.
A well-known character actor in Bengali film industry, he began his acting career on the stage and remained deeply associated with theatre throughout his life.
Though theatre was his primary passion, he was also a familiar face in Bengali television and films.
From mid-1990s onwards, he became a regular presence in several popular Bengali television serials, portraying important supporting roles that earned him wide recognition among viewers.
The actor later appeared in a number of Bengali films across both mainstream commercial cinema and alternative genres.
Some of the popular films he acted in include 'Challenge', 'Le Halua Le', 'Bindass', 'Amazon Obhijaan' and 'Chander Pahar'.
He was also part of critically acclaimed films such as 'Jatiswar' and 'Gorosthane Sabdhan'.
Roy Chodhury, due to health problems, had curtailed his work in recent times.
Actor and politician Debdut Ghosh paid tribute to Roy Choudhury in a social media post and also spoke about him fondly.
"He was a wonderful and warm person who loved long conversations without worrying about the time. He was extremely affectionate towards juniors and would step forward to help whenever someone faced difficulties during work," Ghosh said.
Recalling Roy Choudhury's sense of humour, Ghosh said the actor could lighten even tense situations with his witty remarks.