Veteran theatre artist Usha Ganguly passed away at her residence in South Kolkata on April 23. The 75-year-old was found dead at 7 am by her househelp who visited Ganguly's flat in Lake Gardens area. Her family confirmed that a doctor declared she died of cardiac arrest.

She had founded the Rangakarmee group in 1976, famously known for non-conformist productions like Mahabhoj, Rudali, Court Martial and Antaryatra. Born in Jodhpur and hailing from Uttar Pradesh, she learnt Bharatnatyam at a young age and moved to Kolkata to study Hindi literature.

Ganguly introduced a new form of alternative Hindi theatre in Bengal. While her Bengali productions include 'Mukti' and Manasi, Usha also worked with Rituparno Ghosh during the scripting for Ajay Devgn-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starring film 'Raincoat'. She was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for direction in 1998 and honoured by West Bengal Government as the best actress for the play 'Gudia Ghar'.

Aparna Sen told PTi she couldn't believe Usha is no more. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared a statement which read, "My deep condolences to her family and friends and followers."

Shabana Azmi also tweeted about the demise. "Deeply saddened to learn that the theatre doyen #Usha Ganguli passed away in her sleep this morning. I had worked with her in PAAR and seen many of her productions in which she was unparalled. My deepest condolences to the family RIP," she wrote while sharing her condolences.

Ganguly's last rites were performed at the Keoratala crematorium among her family and members of Rangakarmee. She is survived by a son. Usha's husband Kamalendu passed away a few years back and her brother died three days before her demise.