Veteran
Bengali
actor
Swatilekha
Sengupta
died
at
a
hospital
in
Kolkata
on
Wednesday
afternoon
after
a
long
battle
with
kidney
ailments,
her
family
said.
She
was
71
and
survived
by
husband
Rudraprasad
Sengupta
and
daughter
Sohini.
She
was
undergoing
treatment
at
the
private
hospital
for
the
last
24
days
after
being
admitted
there
with
renal
problems.
She
died
around
3
pm,
Sohini
told
PTI.
Swatilekha,
a
recipient
of
the
Sangeet
Natak
Akademi
Award,
was
one
of
the
spearheads
of
theatre
group
Nandikar
along
with
her
husband
and
daughter.
She
was
cast
by
Satyajit
Ray
for
the
portrayal
of
the
character
Bimala
in
'Ghare
Baire',
which
was
based
on
Rabindranath
Tagore's
eponymous
novel.
She
also
played
the
character
of
Arati
in
Shiboprasad
Mukherjee
and
Nandita
Roy's
blockbuster
'Bela
Seshe'.
In
both
films,
she
was
cast
opposite
Soumitra
Chatterjee.