JAGATSINGHPUR: A pall of gloom descended on Odia actor Satya Prakash Nanda’s native Tartanga village in Jagatsinghpur block after his demise on Wednesday night. Popular as Pintu Nanda, he died at the age of 46 while undergoing treatment for liver cirrhosis. Recalling his contribution to the film and theatre industries, they said Pintu’s father Ashok Nanda worked as a junior engineer in the Energy department and the Nanda family shifted to Bhubaneswar when Ashok was transferred there.
While Pintu took to acting, his elder brother Abhiram is a flutist. They said the family always visited the village during fest ival s l ike Dol a Purnima and Holi. As per the village tradition, the idol of Lord Krishna is carried from the local Gopinath Jew temple on a decorated palanquin and the Nanda family never missed the procession.
The actor enjoyed a huge fan base in the village which included his childhood friends. One of Pintu’s friends Radhakant Mishra said they studied together at SK Academy and SVM Col le ge i n Jagatsinghpur. “When we (schoolmates) came to know about his health condition, we collected money and visited him in New Delhi to contribute to his treatment,” he said.
Mishra said they belonged to the 1992 batch at SK Academy where Pintu completed his matriculation. Another local Loknath Mohanty said Tartanga’s Dola Purnima will not be the same this year without Pintu’s presence.