Bhubaneswar: It was an end of epoch with the sudden demise of veteran Odia actor Bijay Mohanty Monday July 20. The legend’s pasing away marked the end of an era in Odisha film industry.
The actor was not in the best of his health for the last few months and was brought to Odisha in an ambulance from Hyderabad June 14. He had been staying with his daughter for past few years and undergoing treatment at a private city hospital.
Mohanty was later discharged and re-admitted to the hospital July 3. He was again rushed to the private hospital Monday evening after further deterioation of his health condition.He finally succumbed while undergoing treatment there. The actor was aged 70.
The actor, who made his debut with 1977 Odia film Nagaphasa, was the batchmate of legendary Hindi cinema actors Naseeruddin Shah, Raj Babbar and Om Puri at the National School of Drama (NSD).
Coincidentally, Naseer had turned 70 just a day before Bijay Mohanty’s passing away Monday. During his visit to Bhubaneswar back in 2016, the Bollywood veteran had described their days at NSD in the 1970s as full of fun, merriment and he had fondly recalled his memories with the Odia actor.
Recounting his association with his batchmate and legendary Ollywood actor Bijay Mohanty, his friend at the National School of Drama (NSD), Naseer said’ “Those were the days of happiness. We were int the prime of our youth and had lots of fun and merriment.
“Bijay is a jovial character with a great sense of humour. He will give you a detailed account on this,” he said.
The actor had then come to stage his play ‘Einstein‘ at Rabindra Mandap. He had earlier shot for a film at the Chilika Lake in Odisha for two days and that was about three decades back.
Bijay had told a local magazine that he decided to return to his village while all his friends, including Om and Naseer, went to Mumbai to try their luck in Bollywood after graduating from NSD in 1973.
“I declined their offer to accompany them since I had no money to live there. Six months later, I got a letter from NSD to join its repertory company for one year. I did many plays across the country that way,” he had said.
The actor bagged a national award for his second movie Chilika Tire and has had an illustrious career featuring more than 300 Odia films, 40 Bengali films, two south Indian movies and one Hindi film.
PNN