New Delhi : Acclaimed Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh, known for films such as Raincoat, The Last Lear and Unishe April, died following a massive cardiac arrest in Kolkata on Thursday. He was 49.

Ghosh was suffering from pancreatitis and passed away at his residence around 7:30 am, his friend and filmmaker Gautam Ghose told reporters.

Shocked colleagues and friends gathered at the home of the filmmaker as news of the death spread.

Bengali cinema icon Soumitra Chatterjee said Bengal had lost one of the best filmmakers and it was a huge loss for Indian cinema as well.

Calling the death shocking, Chatterjee said Ghosh’s death will leave a huge vacuum in Bengali cinema.

Konkana Sen Sharma, who acted in Dosar and Titli directed by Ghosh, said it was a great personal loss for her. Ghosh had even directed her mother, Aparna Sen, in Unishe April.

Born and brought up in Kolkata, Ghosh was the son of a documentary filmmaker and began in advertising. His directiorial debut was Hirer Angti.

His 1997 film, Dahan, based on true story a woman’s molestation on the streets of Kolkata, became an instant classic and won many National Awards.

He won the National Award for Best Director some years ago for “Abohoman”. His last release was Chitrangada in which he gave Rabindranath Tagore’s work of the same name a new twist. Earlier, he adapted another Tagore story in the 2011 film Noukadubi.

Ghosh made only two Bollywood films in his career – Raincoat — in 2005 starring Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai, adapting an O. Henry short story and The Last Lear in 2007 with Bollywood magastar Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta in the Shakespearean drama.

For the past some years, Ghosh had also turned into an actor, starring in Arekti Premer Golpo and Memories in March with Dipti Naval. He was also once a popular talk show host.