Presidency Univ to confer D Litt on thespian Soumitra Chatterjee

Kolkata: Presidency University (PU) will award D Litt to thespian Soumitra Chatterjee at the annual convocation of the university scheduled on September 11.

"We have decided to honour Soumitra Chatterjee as we feel he has embodied the culture of Bengal through his acting and recitation. He epitomises Bengal art and has translated the ideas of Satyajit Ray by his expression," said Anuradha Lohia, Vice-Chancellor of PU on Tuesday.

The V-C further said the conferment of the award also coincides with the state celebrating 100 years of Bengali cinema. "We are honoured that Chatterjee has accepted our invitation to be present and accept the honour," she maintained.

It may be mentioned that Chatterjee had bagged national awards thrice in his career. In the year 1999, he received Special Jury award for Antardhan, the same award for the film Dekha in 2000 and in 2007 he got national award for his acting in the film Padakhep. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Centre in 2004 and in 2012, he received Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema given by the Centre for lifetime achievement. Chatterjee also won the coveted Legion of Honour, the highest civilian award in France in the year 2017.

The V-C also announced that the university will award DSc to Bharat Ratna recipient CNR Rao for his outstanding contribution to science on the same day. "He is undoubtedly the tallest figure in science in the country and has consented to grace the occasion and accept the award," Lohia said adding that Rao will also be the chief guest on the occasion.

More than 750 students of the varsity will receive their degrees on the convocation day and 4 will be getting their PhDs. "This will be our first batch of PhD students. The PhD programme started in our university in the year 2014," Lohia said.