Renowned Bollywood editor Sanjib Datta dead

Representation picture

Bollywood editor Sanjib Datta who worked on films like Dor, Mardani, Iqbal, Ek Hasini Thi passed away on Sunday. He was 54. Datta, who was based in Kolkata for the last couple of years, was an alumnus of FTII.

He was a long-time collaborator of filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor, working as an editor in almost all his films. Nagesh, who's currently in Canada, confirmed his demise. "I've been told he went in for a bypass surgery a few days ago but never came back. I am gathering more information. His death is devastating. He was the last of Renu Saluja school. She trained so many people but no one carried her legacy the way he did.

"In fact, Renu was editing 'Bollywood Calling' when she passed away. So he finished the editing but never took credit," Nagesh told PTI. Datta has been credited for editing more than 80 films, including Hindi and Bengali. He worked with filmmakers like Kundan Shah, Sriram Raghvan, Pradeep Sarkar among others. Screenwriter-editor Apurva Asrani, who worked with Datta in "8x10 Tasveer" and "Aashayein", took to Twitter and called him "a mature craftsman and a thorough gentleman."

"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 and I shared editing credits on Aashayein & Tasveer 8x10, and I will always remember him as a mature craftsman & a thorough gentleman," Asrani tweeted. Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh tweeted, "One of our finest editor Sanjib Datta. bhalo thakis kaka... we will miss you."

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