Popular Bengali film director Anik Dutta died on Wednesday afternoon after falling from the roof of a multi-storeyed apartment building in Kolkata’s Gariahat area, police said.
Dutta, 66, is survived by his wife and daughter. His wife lives in one of the flats in the building.
“He was found lying in a pool of blood on the driveway and was declared dead on arrival at Manipal Hospital, Dhakuria. A suicide note was found on the roof of the Hindustan Park house. The handwriting is being examined,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, said.
“The director’s body will be handed over to his family after postmortem at SSKM Hospital,” he added.
Dutta’s family and friends told the media that he had been undergoing treatment for depression for several years and had been hospitalised at least three times in the last two years.
Dutta belonged to a well-known Bengali family. His grandfather, banker Narendra Chandra Dutta, played a key role in the foundation of United Bank of India.
Dutta started his career with advertisement films before making his debut movie Bhooter Bhobishyat, a comic satire that became an instant hit after its release in 2012.
Dutta made seven more movies till 2025 and wrote the scripts for seven of those eight projects. Of these, the 2019 comic satire Bhobishyater Bhoot was seen as a criticism of contemporary Bengal politics, and Dutta alleged that the then Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration had stalled its release for months.
Dutta’s 2022 movie Aparajito received critical acclaim for its depiction of the making of Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray. Dutta made the movie as a work of fiction and not a typical biopic of the iconic director. Dutta named his protagonist Aparajito Roy, and Jeetu Kamal played the role.
The film industry mourned Dutta’s death.
“This is a huge loss for the movie industry. We have lost a rare talent. His body will be kept at Nandan for a few hours tomorrow so that people can pay their homage before the funeral,” director Arindam Sil told HT.
Actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rudranil Ghosh said, “Anik Da’s death is an irreparable loss. I also worked on his advertisement projects. He created a genre of his own.”
