Renowned Bollywood editor Sanjib Datta, who has worked in over 80 films including Hindi and Bengali films, passed away on Sunday. Aged 54, Datta belonged to Kolkata and is especially known for his long association with filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor.
The FTII alumnus’ sudden demise has shocked a number of names in the industry, including filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh and writer Apurva Asrani.
Apurva Asrani, who worked with Datta in Nagesh Kukunoor’s 2010 film Aashayein, also mourned the loss.
“Shocked to hear about the passing of Sanjib Datta. He was a fine editor whose work was synonymous with the best films of Nagesh Kukunoor. Sanjib & I shared editing credits on Aashayein & Tasveer 8×10, and I will always remember him as a mature craftsman & a thorough gentleman,” he wrote.
Shocked to hear about the passing of Sanjib Datta. He was a fine editor whose work was synonymous with the best films of Nagesh Kukunoor. Sanjib & I shared editing credits on Aashayein & Tasveer 8×10, and I will always remember him as a mature craftsman & a thorough gentleman.
— Apurva (@Apurvasrani) September 15, 2019
Sujoy took to Twitter to mourn his death and called him ‘one of our finest editor’.
one of our finest editor sanjib datta.
bhalo thakis kaka… we will miss you. pic.twitter.com/7c6tmXVKHX— sujoy ghosh (@sujoy_g) September 15, 2019
A student of renowned late film editor Renu Saluja, Datt has edited films like Door, Mardani, Iqbal and Ek Hasina Thi, to name a few.
In his decades-long career, he worked with filmmakers such as Kundan Shah, Sriram Raghvan and Pradeep Sarkar among others. It is reported that he was admitted to the hospital for bypass surgery but never returned home.