Tapas Paul (29 September 1958 – 18 February 2020) was an Indian actor and politician. One of the most celebrated actors of
Bengali cinema, Paul is best known for his on-screen roles opposite
Mahua Roy Choudhury and
Debashree Roy.
He received a
Filmfare Award
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...
.
Tapas Paul was a
Member of Parliament from
Krishnanagar having won in the 2014 Indian General Elections on a
Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...
ticket.
[Detailed Profile: Shri Tapas Paul](_blank)
''india.gov.in''. Retrieved 16 October 2012
Paul shot to fame and popularity with his debut film ''
Dadar Kirti
''Dadar Kirti'' (; ) is a 1980 Bengali romantic drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film was based on an unpublished novel of the same name by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It stars Tapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Ayan Banerjee, Debashree Roy, ...
'' (1980), a romantic drama by
Tarun Majumdar, and sustained his fame with films like ''Saheb'' (1981), ''Parabat Priya'' (1984), ''
Bhalobasa Bhalobasa'' (1985), ''Anurager Choyan'' (1980), ''Amar Bandhan'' (1986), ''Guru Dakshina'' (1987) to name few. He was awarded the
Filmfare Award
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...
for his role in ''Saheb'' (1981).
He made his
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
debut in
Hiren Nag's ''
Abodh'' (1984) opposite
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit Nene (Maiden and married names, née Dixit, ; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in Madhuri Dixit filmography, over 70 Hindi films. Praised by critics for her performances and danc ...
. He collaborated with
Tarun Majumdar for the second time in his romantic flick ''
Bhalobasa Bhalobasa'' (1985) where he was paired with
Debashree Roy. The film achieved a success and established his pairing with Roy as the most bankable one of the nineteen eighties. His other major hits with Roy include ''Arpan'' (1987), ''Surer Sathi'' (1988), ''Surer Akashe'' (1988), ''Nayanmani'' (1989), ''
Chokher Aloy'' (1989), ''Shubha Kamana'' (1991), ''
Mayabini'' (1992), ''Tobu Mone Rekho'' (1994), ''
Tumi Je Aamar'' (1994). He collaborated with
Buddhadeb Dasgupta in ''
Uttara
Uttara, which means "north" in Sanskrit and many other South Asian languages, may refer to:
Places
*Uttara (town), Uttara, a neighbourhood north of Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Uttara Export Processing Zone, Bangladesh
*Uttara East Thana
*Uttara West Thana ...
'' (2000) and ''
Mondo Meyer Upakhyan'' (2002). He was arrested by
C.B.I for alleged links to the Rose Valley
chit fund scam in December 2016, and was given bail after 13 months.
Education
Tapas Paul graduated with a bio science degree from
Hooghly Mohsin College under
University of Burdwan.
[Bengali Cinema: Tapas Pal](_blank)
''calcuttaweb.com''. Retrieved 16 October 2012
Film career
Paul's first movie appearance was in 1980, in the film ''
Dadar Kirti
''Dadar Kirti'' (; ) is a 1980 Bengali romantic drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film was based on an unpublished novel of the same name by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It stars Tapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Ayan Banerjee, Debashree Roy, ...
'', directed by
Tarun Majumder.
He was seated in a train compartment, when he caught attention of Shrinibas Chakraborty, the assistant director of ''
Dadar Kirti
''Dadar Kirti'' (; ) is a 1980 Bengali romantic drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film was based on an unpublished novel of the same name by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It stars Tapas Paul, Mahua Roychoudhury, Ayan Banerjee, Debashree Roy, ...
'' (1980). He was then taken to
Tarun Majumdar who was at that time looking for a new face for the role Kedar. The film became a huge success at box office.
For his role as a naive Kedar, Paul received immense love and appreciation from his audience. Paul collaborated with
Tarun Majumdar for the second time in his romantic flick ''
Bhalobasa Bhalobasa'' (1985) where he was paired with
Debashree Roy.
The film achieved a roaring success and established his pairing with Roy as the most bankable one of the 1980s.
His other major hits with Roy include ''Arpan'' (1987), ''Surer Sathi'' (1988), ''Surer Akashe'' (1988), ''Nayanmani'' (1989), ''
Chokher Aloy'' (1989), ''Shubha Kamana'' (1991), ''
Mayabini'' (1992), ''Tobu Mone Rekho'' (1994). He collaborated with
Buddhadeb Dasgupta in ''
Uttara
Uttara, which means "north" in Sanskrit and many other South Asian languages, may refer to:
Places
*Uttara (town), Uttara, a neighbourhood north of Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Uttara Export Processing Zone, Bangladesh
*Uttara East Thana
*Uttara West Thana ...
'' (2000) and ''
Mondo Meyer Upakhyan'' (2002).
Controversy
On 31 December 2016, Paul was arrested for his involvement in the Ponzi firm Rose Valley Group. He was released after serving a thirteen months sentence.
On 11 January 2017,
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
MP
Babul Supriyo filed a complaint against Paul, AITC MP
Saugata Roy and MLA
Mahua Moitra, for falsely accusing him of involvement in the Rose Valley scam.
Political career
He was a member of
All India Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...
and served as an
MLA from
Alipore for two terms (2001–2006 & 2006–2009). He was the MP of Krishnanagar from 2009 to 2018.
Personal life
He was married to Nandini Paul. She was a participant of ''
Bigg Boss Bangla'' of season 2. Their daughter,
Sohini, is a
Tollywood actress.
Death
He died on 18 February 2020, aged 61. He had suffered from heart disease which led to a sudden cardiac arrest.
Awards
*Kalakar Award Best Actor for Rupban in 1993
*Kalakar Award Best Actor for Mejo Bou in 1996
*Kalakar Award Best Actor for Mama Bhagne in 2001
*Kalakar Award Best Actor
elevisionfor Nayak in 2003
*Kalakar Award Best Actor for Pratishodh in 2005
*
Filmfare Awards East Best Actor for ''Saheb'' in 1981
Bharat Nirman Awardsin 2012
References
External links
*
Profile at Calcuttaweb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Tapas
Male actors in Bengali cinema
1958 births
2020 deaths
India MPs 2009–2014
Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal
University of Burdwan alumni
West Bengal MLAs 2001–2006
West Bengal MLAs 2006–2011
Kalakar Awards winners
Lok Sabha members from West Bengal
Male actors from Kolkata
India MPs 2014–2019
People from New Alipore
Hooghly Mohsin College alumni
Indian actor-politicians
People from Chandannagar