Noted Bengali film actor Tapas Paul passed away early on 18th February at a hospital at Juhu in Bombay due to cardiac arrest. He was 61. He had acted opposite Madhuri Dixit in her debut film,Abodh (1984).
The Calcutta-based Tapas had arrived in Bombay to meet his daughter, Sohini, in January. He was leaving for the USA for treatment on 1st February when he took ill at the airport and had to be rushed to hospital. He was on ventilator till 6th February. He had been recovering and was therefore, taken off the ventilator but his condition suddenly worsened and he died of cardiac arrest around 3.30 a.m. on 18th.
Tapas Paul became popular right from his first film, Dadar Kirti (1980). Among his other well-known films were Parabat Priya, Bhalobasa Bhalobasa, Anurager Choyan and Amar Bandhan. Tapas was a former Trinamool Congress MP too. He retreated from cinema and active politics after the CBI arrested him in the Rose Valley chit fund scam in December 2016. He was in prison for 13 months.