Mitra was in the middle of a shoot for Utsober Ratri, a Bengali serial, at the Indrapuri Studio in south Kolkata when he complained of severe chest pain. He died on his way to the hospital.

“He reported for the morning shoot like any other day, and was getting ready in the make-up room. He was actually in quite a playful mood and was cracking jokes with his co-stars like he usually did,” said Jishu Dasgupta, the director of the serial Mitra was shooting for, and a close associate.

Mitra won spurs as a television actor through serials like Tithir Athithi, Raja Gaja, Ati Uttam. He had a successful film career too. He earned much acclaim for his performance in Tarun Majumdar’s Alo.

A condolence meet was organised at the Technician’s studio in the afternoon where his friends and colleagues paid tributes to him. “He was a versatile actor, but more importantly, he was a lovely human being. He took great care to make everyone comfortable around him,” said actor and producer Arindam Sil, who has produced Mitra’s last film, Shukno Lonka.

“He has young children whose future is yet to be built. We will have to ensure his family has a secure future,” said actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty.

The tragic incident also brings to light the fact that most Kolkata studios don’t have in-house doctors. “Though Mitra’s case was different because it was a heart attack, I shudder to think what would have happened if an accident occurs in one of these studios. With no professional medical practitioner in attendance, things became difficult,” said film and serial director, Arin Paul.