Veteran Bengali actress Mithu Mukherjee dies at 71

Veteran Bengali actress Mithu Mukherjee, a prominent figure of the industry's 1970s and 1980s heyday, has died at the age of 71 at a hospital in Mumbai, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across the Indian film industry. Reports state that Mukherjee died on Sunday night at Breach Candy Hospital after a prolonged battle with cancer that had lasted nearly a year. Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, however, told PTI that she passed away on Monday morning. "She passed away this morning, and we are all very sad," Chatterjee said. No official hospital or family statement confirming the exact timing or cause of death has been reported. Mukherjee began her film career at 17, debuting in Chitta Bose's Shesh Parba in 1972. Wider recognition followed a year later with the titular role in Dinen Gupta's Marjina Abdulla. Over the next two decades she appeared in numerous Bengali films, including Nishikanya, Mouchak, Swayamsiddha, Hotel Snow Fox, Bhagyachakra, Sandhi and Father, working alongside stars such as Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chattopadhyay and Ranjit Mallick. She also worked in Hindi cinema, making her Bollywood debut opposite Shatrughan Sinha in Dulal Guha's Khaan Dost in 1976.