According to eyewitnesses cited by The Telegraph, Bengali actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee died on Sunday (March 29) in a tragic incident at Talsari Beach while attempting to rescue a female co-actor who had slipped during a shoot. The cast and crew were filming a scene in shallow water when the accident took place.
'Rahulji was still standing when ma'am fell and slipped,' the boatman said.
Witnesses informed The Telegraph that the actors were filming a scene requiring them to stand in knee-deep water when the female co-star suddenly lost her balance and slipped into a hollow in the uneven seabed.
“Rahulji was still on his feet when madam slipped and fell. She was wearing a sari, which became entangled in the water. He rushed in at once to rescue her,” recounted local boatman Tapan Gangai. Another boatman, Pulin, recalled the terrifying moments after Rahul was brought out of the water: “At first he was alive, coughing up water, moaning, struggling to breathe. Then the crew stepped in.”
According to police reports, the pair had been shooting on a speedboat when powerful waves swept them into the water. Although the co-star was quickly rescued, it took almost an hour for local residents and crew members to find and pull Rahul from the sea.
Rahul was on location at Talsari Beach in Odisha, shooting for the daily TV serial Bhole Baba Par Karega. He was performing a scene with his co-actor Sweta Mishra. Co-actor Bhaskar Banerjee, who had left the set just moments before, later described the sequence as a standard honeymoon scene set in ankle-deep water.
The 42-year-old actor was taken urgently to Digha State General Hospital, located about 11 kilometres from Talsari, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Initial inquiries indicated that he had inhaled a large quantity of sand and seawater. Officials further noted that the production team had failed to secure permission from the Odisha police before filming. A Talsari police officer stated, “If we had been notified, we could have provided lifeguards, rescue boats, and medical assistance. None of these were present that day.”
Boatmen and crew members helped pull Rahul from the water, but the delay in rescuing him proved fatal. His body was later brought to his home in Bijoygarh, where relatives, friends, and admirers assembled to offer their condolences. The actor’s last rites were conducted at the Keoratala Crematorium on Monday evening.
Police have filed a case of unnatural death and initiated a joint probe with authorities from both Odisha and West Bengal. Investigators are scrutinising discrepancies reportedly found in some crew members’ statements as part of the ongoing inquiry.
Rahul Arunoday Banerjee is survived by his wife, actor Priyanka Sarkar, and their son, Shahaj Banerjee. The two first met while working on the Bengali film Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, married in 2010, and welcomed their son in 2013. Though they separated in 2017, they reunited in 2023 and were together at the time of his death. His unexpected demise has left his family—including his mother and extended relatives—as well as his colleagues and fans, in profound grief, with loved ones honoring his memory and career.