Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 13: Popular actor-director Hara Patnaik Tuesday died at a private hospital here. He was 56. Patnaik is survived by his wife Jharana and two daughters.
Patnaik, who ruled the hearts of legions of cine lovers in the state for decades, was suffering from blood cancer since 2008. Earlier, he had been treated at Christian Medical College in Vellore and later, was admitted to Sparsh Hospital here. Dr Ghanshyam Biswas, who treated him, said his blood group (B – ) was rare and needed frequent infusion of blood platelets over past one-and-half-years.
“We had released him from the hospital and sent him home last evening after realising that the end was near. But he was brought back to the hospital at 8.15 am after his condition deteriorated. He was admitted to the ICU but we could not save him. The end came at 12.40 pm,” the doctor said.
Patnaik acted in over 60 films as villain and directed 19 movies. After initially recovering from cancer, he acted in Oriya film ‘Om Sai Ram’ in 2012. As a director, he gave several upcoming actors their first break in cinema. Among those are Aanubhav Mohanty, Babusan and Sabyasachi.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union ministers Jual Oram, Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP state president K V Singhdeo and OPCC president Prasad Harichandan condoled the untimely death of Patnaik.