Puri: Veteran theatre and cine artiste Nityanand Das is now living a life of misery at his residence at Mochisahi here in the absence of regular pensions from the Central and state governments.
Sources said the 81-year-old actor, who is now bedridden following a mishap a year ago, has not received pensions from the state government for the last six months and from the Centre for the last one year.
Das had lost his father at an early age and was brought up by his mother Chintamani. He began his journey as an actor by taking part in a few plays in the pilgrim city here and joined Jagannath theatre in 1945.
Das had migrated to Kolkata to work under eminent theatre personalities Sukumar Ganguly and Durllav Charan Singh. He returned to his hometown in 1957 and joined Annapurna Theatre (A Group). He acted in several plays under the tutelage of famous directors Dukhiram Swain, Byomokesh Tripathy, Laxmi Narayan Patra, Kashinath Sahu, Purnachandra Swain and Nilakantha Mishra.
Das, who has been conferred with several awards from government and non-government agencies, was the director of Utkal Theatre in Berhampur from 1974 to 78. He also acted in some Oriya movies.
The veteran actor is now going through severe financial difficulties. “Das has been suffering from diabetes and blood pressure for several months and is facing difficulties in procuring medicines,” said a source.
District culture officer Nalini Sahu said they have raised Das’s misery with the departmental higher-ups. “The culture department is preparing a fresh list of artistes. Das will get his pensions soon,” Sahu said. PNN
