Pijush Ganguly bids adieu

(Image sourced from Facebook)

It was sad to note that he met with a road accident and was admitted to a hospital with critical injuries at the time the Puja revelry just began. I had a soft corner for this actor and I don’t really know why, other than that he was a good actor.  Maybe it was for his endearing smile with a childlike simplicity.

I felt low to read in the newspaper last Sunday morning that he was critical and put on ventilation. I hadn’t watched television that day, so I wasn’t aware that he had already passed away. It was shocking to learn about it at night on Facebook.

I met Pijush Ganguly only once, in 2005 or so, during an event where I was managing a brand promotion activity. It was organized by a television channel and like many other television actors present, I invited him to our stall and gave away a gift hamper. And I saw that smile! Later when I introduced one of the cousins of my wife to him, whose pet name happened to be his first name, he exclaimed, “Oh, Pijush is your pet name! What’s your good name then?”

I was fond of his acting. I have always felt he was an underrated actor. Like many of us recollect now, I too remember him from his first Bengali serial Abar Jawkher Dhon, based on the famous adventure novel by Hemendra Kumar Roy ages back. Autograph, which is a milestone in contemporary Bangla cinema, opened with him, talking over phone. And that scene was memorable, reflecting upon the present scenario of the industry. He was good in a small role in the film (that of the superstar’s personal secretary). I liked him in Bomkesh Bakshi too (the first one in Anjan Dutta's series starring Abir). I sincerely feel he could’ve been seen in more challenging roles and I’m sure he would have made a space for himself on big screen like some of his contemporaries from the small screen have done.

As director Atanu Ghosh recollects on Facebook, he used to be happy like a child if his shot was good, but looked dispirited the whole day if he thought it wasn’t precisely what the director wanted, even if Atanu kept telling him that it was not bad. He would keep saying that he couldn’t give it exactly the way he (the director) wanted. This quality is rare in today's actors! I read in an interview by Dimple Kapadia that dissatisfaction was the hallmark of a great actor. And he lived with this dissatisfaction.

Pratim D Gupta, film critic-turned-director, noted on the same site that he was one of the nicest guys he knew in the industry, and probably for that he was taken away by destiny at the age of fifty.

Will miss you Pijush Ganguly. The only way I can console myself is that your smile will stay with me.

#PijushGanguly #Bengalicinema #Bengaliactor #Kolkataactor

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