Rituparno Ghosh, who was suffering from pancreatitis, passed away at his South Kolkata residence in sleep around 7.30 a.m. following a massive cardiac arrest, the film industry sources said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to his residence. "Rituparno's comparison is only Rituparno," said Banerjee, deeply mourning his death.
The funeral is to be held in the late afternoon Thursday.
Gosh was Born on Aug 31, 1963, in Kolkata, and started his career in the world of advertisement, and shifted to celluloid in 1992 with the Bengali movie 'Hirer Angti'.
His other National Award winning Bengali films are 'Dahan', 'Bariwali', 'Asukh', 'Utsab', 'Shubho Mahurat', 'Chokher Bali', 'Dosar', 'Shob Charitro Kalponik' and 'Abohoman'.
Kirron Kher starrer 'Bariwali' also took away the NETPAC award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2000.
Rituparno's last release 'Chitrangada' (2012), where he also acted, won the Special jury honours at the National Film Awards.
In 2007, Ghosh made his only English move 'The Last Lear', that starred Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan. It won the National Award for the best feature film in English.
He also directed two Hindi movies - 'Raincoat' (2004) and 'Sunglass' (2012). The former was adjudged the winner of the best feature film in Hindi at the National Awards.