Legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee was on Tuesday presented France’s highest civilian award, Legion d’Honneur at a function in India’s Kolkata.
French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler presented the medal to the versatile octogenarian, who has delved into multiple cultural genres. Apart from his chief vocation of acting, he has also dabbled in painting, composed poems, written and directed plays, edited a Bengali magazine and is also a much-acclaimed elocutionist.
Ziegler said the award was being given in recognition of Chatterjee’s remarkable career, his outstanding contribution in promoting Indian cinema in France and his long-standing attraction “for our country”.
“France loves you, as much as you love France,” he said, mentioning many retrospectives of his films heve been organised in his country.
He also recalled that in 1990 Chatterjee acted in Satyajit Ray directed “Sakha Prosakha”, which was an Indo-French production.
