Playwright Bataraj Dies Of COVID-19, Hours Later Wife Passes Away

Puri: Playwright Bataraj Deva Goswami and his wife passed away in a span of few hours. He was 73.

He was undergoing treatment for coronavirus at a private hospital in Kolkata. He died on Saturday morning and his wife Radharani died in the evening.

Born in Puri in 1948, Bataraj Deva Goswami was popularly known as Batu Da.

He was famous as a playwright, comedian and director. His social and comedy dramas were popular among the audience of Odisha as well as outside. He has also played several roles in Odia cinemas.

Bataraj’s Odia plays ‘Mo Stree Baha Ghara’, ‘Konark Ra Attranada’, ‘Anurag’, ‘Dasaru Pancha’, ‘Sabu Olata’, ‘Sohala Ru Sathie’, ‘Gahana’, ‘Na Dekhiba Loka Dekha’, ‘Athara Purila’, and ‘Maha Sangram’ etc were popular.

The couple is survived by son Sambhu and two daughters Namrata and Amrita.

Notably, Bataraj is the great grandson of Mohana Sundar Deva Goswami, director and producer of first Odia film, Sita Bibaha.

His demise is an inseparable loss among the theatre artists, said the artists of Puri.