Veteran actor of the Bengali silver screen, Pradip Mukherjee, who became legendary after his iconic role of Somnath in Satyajit Ray's Jana Aranya, died in a hospital here on Monday. He was 76.

He also received critics accolades for his role of Dr Maiti in the Vidya Balan and Arjun Rampal's Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh.

Mukherjee was hospitalised on August 22 following a lung infection. His condition started deteriorating from Sunday and he had to be given ventilator support. He was tested Covid-19 positive twice in the last two years.

Besides acting, Mukherjee was also a practising tax consultant. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Mukherjee was born on August 11, 1946 and after graduating from City College in Kolkata, he also received a degree in law. He had been attracted to acting since his college days.

Besides taking drama lessons, he was actively associated with a number of theatre academies. He started his acting career on stage, where he was noticed by Satyajit Ray, who featured him as Somnath in his iconic movie Jana Aranya.