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Bhubaneswar, July 1: It was a dark Saturday for the Oriya film industry. A pall of gloom descended upon the industry as veteran actor Minaketan Das passed away. The 56-year-old was suffering from cancer. Meanwhile, the Oriya film and theatre fraternity shared their condolences with Orissa POST. They remembered the legend with a heavy heart.
“I joined Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, when he was pursuing his MA course. He believed in hard work and dedication. He was a versatile actor who could adapt any character—a gentleman, bad man or a comedian. Theatre industry also lost a great man,” said theatre director Naveen Parida.
“Though, he was popular in the industry, he had no greed at all. We loved his comedian and villainous roles,” another theatre director Dilip Kumar Swain told Orissa POST.
“During my early theatre days, we sought advice from him to improve ourselves,” he added.
“He was a perfect gentle man. He used to always respect seniors and motivate young actors to perform better. He is a versatile actor who could play any character. He is popular in all mediums –film, theatre jatra and Tv serials. Nobody can replace this great actor,” said Prakash Maharana, theatre personality.
Meanwhile, many other personalities form Oriya film industry including veteran actor and producer Pradyumna Lenka, actor Sritam Das, Opera and cine industry personality Raimohan Parida and others prayed for the departed soul.
According to Pradyumna, Minaketan was popular for his portrayal of negative characters in theatres, movies and on television.
Raimohan Parida who used to be Minaketan’s colleague in both Opera and Cine industry admired his works. He said, “It was an honour and privilege to work with him in Jatra ‘Allah Ho Jagannath.’He had directed the play,” Parida said.
