Kolkata (PTI): Famous Bengali theatre personality Manoj Mitra, known for writing and directing farces and fantasies to highlight social and political issues, died on Tuesday in a hospital here due to old-age related ailments, family sources said.

Mitra was 86.

According to a doctor, Mitra breathed his last at around 8.50 am on Tuesday.

"He was admitted to the hospital on November 3 with several illnesses. His condition kept on deteriorating and today at around 8.50 am he left us," the doctor told PTI.

The octogenarian was earlier admitted to hospital on September 20 with breathing issues, imbalance of sodium and potassium among other health-related issues, doctors said. He was discharged from the hospital on September end.

Famous for his stellar performance in Tapan Sinha's film 'Banchharamer Bagan', Mitra has also acted in the legendary director Satyajit Ray's classics such as 'Ghare Baire' and 'Ganashatru'. Bancharamer Bagan was based on Mitra's play 'Sajano Bagaan'.

Known for his comedy and antagonist roles, Mitra has also acted in films of Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Basu Chatterjee, Tarun Majumdar, Shakti Samanta and Goutam Ghose.

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New Delhi, Nov 22: Flipkart's co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down from the board of PhonePe, the fintech company said on Friday.

PhonePe also announced the appointment of Manish Sabharwal as an Independent Director and Chair of its Audit Committee.

In this role, Sabharwal will be instrumental in upholding the integrity and effectiveness of PhonePe's financial reporting, internal controls, and risk management practices, he company said in a release.

"PhonePe also announced that Flipkart's co-founder, Binny Bansal has stepped down from its Board of Directors. Binny acquired PhonePe in 2016 and has been on its Board since then," the release said.

Commenting on the board rejig, Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder of PhonePe said, "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of PhonePe's earliest and staunchest supporters. His active engagement, strategic guidance, and personal mentorship have profoundly enriched our discussions. Binny will be missed!"

Nigam further said that Sabharwal's depth of understanding of India's macro economy, coupled with his leadership in shaping India's policies for education, employment, and employability will be invaluable as PhonePe continues to work ahead towards shared vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Sabharwal is Vice-Chairman of Teamlease Services, India's largest staffing and human capital firm.

Bansal played an instrumental role in Flipkart's acquisition of PhonePe way back in 2016 and had been on its board since then (the payments firm separated from Flipkart in 2022).