Parama Actor Mukul Sharma Dead

RBN Web Desk: Mukul Sharma, popular science writer and actor, breathed his last in Delhi yesterday. He was 69. The Bengali audience probably knows him best for playing the lead in Aparna Sen’s 1985 film Parama in which Raakhee played the title role.

Mukul, former husband of Aparna, was the editor of the hugely popular Science Today magazine. He earlier wrote the Mindsport column in The Illustrated Weekly for several years.  Mukul was known for his deep sardonic sense of humour.

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When The Illustrated Weekly shut down, Mukul moved his Mindsport column to The Sunday Times where it attained a cult following. He continued to write short stories at the same time. That aside, he was a prolific writer in a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

Mukul, a consulting engineer by profession, played the role of a flamboyant photographer in Parama. The film was considered pathbreaking since it attacked various middle-class taboos.  Mukul’s daughter, actress-director Konkona Sen Sharma, recently made the film A Death in the Gunj based on her father’s story. Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj has bought the film rights of three of his stories.

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Aparna, remembering her former husband, said that Mukul defied all conventions throughout his life. Lying in the intensive care unit of a Delhi hospital two days ago, he wanted to read The Hunting of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll. This was only possible for Mukul, Aparna said, adding that she has lost a friend for life.

Besides Konkona, Mukul is survived by his wife Binita Sharma and other daughter Kamalini Sen Sharma.