Veteran Odisha artiste Asim Basu passes away

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 1:

Eminent stage artiste, theatre director, artist, painter, and writer- Asim Basu lovingly called Asim Da by his fans, passed away at the Capital Hospital here this evening.

He was 82 at the time of his death.

The veteran stage artiste who was suffering from lungs infection had also developed cardiac problems last evening and had recorded a drop in his blood pressure, according to hospital sources.

The ailing artiste who was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Capital Hospital here after his health condition worsened last evening breathed his last at about 5.25 PM today.

A pall of gloom descended among his fans as news broke out about his death.

Many theatre personalities including directors, playwrights, artistes, writers gathered at the Capital Hospital premises to pay their last respects to their Asim Da.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and several other personalities have condoled his death.

According to his family sources, the veteran artiste will be cremated at the Swargadwar in Puri.

It may be mentioned here that the state government’s Culture department had on January 25 sanctioned an amount of Rs 1 lakh for his treatment after it was reported in the media that his family members had shifted him to their home from a private nursing home owing to shortage of money.

The Khordha district administration too had chipped in Rs 20,000 for the veteran artiste’s treatment.