MUMBAI: Actor-director Parambrata Chattopadhyay, who is currently in Himachal Pradesh on work, regrets for not being able to join the last journey of Bangla cinema legend Soumitra Chattopadhyay, who passed away on Sunday.

Parambrata, who shot into national prominence with his roles in Bollywood films like "Kahaani" and "Pari", said the late actor, to him, was "a friend who also is a teacher".

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Before his death, Soumitra Chattopadhyay was shooting for a documentary titled "Abhijan" directed by Parambrata. The last he was at the shooting floor in Bharatlaxmi Studio was in October.

"Some considered him a teacher, some a guru, and so did I... he was my own, very own 'Udayan Master'... but beyond it all, he was a dear dear friend! The last one and half years had us grow fond of each other, not as if there weren't minor disagreements now and then, like the way it happens between friends. But respect and love only grew abundantly," said Parambrata.

"A big piece tears away from my existence today, a precious tie severed. Impossible to articulate how it feels to lose a friend who also is a teacher. Won't even try to tread that path, have been in distant Himachal for the past one month. Can't be present on his last journey. Guess it's only befitting of this sorrow, which is to be observed in silence, in serenity, in solitude," he added.

Parambrata has a Feluda connect with the late actor. Soumitra Chattopadhyay became widely popular as the original Feluda. Parambrata played the role of the ace detective's cousin and sidekick Topshe in the later films of the franchise that starred Sabyasachi Chakraborty as Feluda after Soumitra stepped down from the role. The actor also played Feluda in a 2017 web series that he directed.

The actor also put up a post on his official Instagram page requesting media not to call and message him.

He wrote: "I request friends in the media to not call and ask for a 'reaction'. This pain, is too personal. This loss doesn't belong to words, belongs to me alone."

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