Eminent artist and Assamese filmmaker Pulak Gogoi’s tryst with canvas and celluloid ended on Saturday when he passed away at a government facility in Guwahati following a prolonged illness.

He was 84 and is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.

Gogoi was suffering from kidney and heart-related ailments and was admitted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

Condoling his death, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on twitter, “I am saddened to hear of the passing away of Pulak Gogoi, a pioneer in the cultural world of Assam, a prominent film director and renowned painter and cartoonist.”

A creative person who shaped the path of modern contemporary art in Assam, Gogoi was born at Jorhat and received his education at the Bandra College of Art. His canvases have been displayed at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata, Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, Washington Hodges Gallery and in various galleries of Assam and Meghalaya.

As a young artist, Gogoi wanted to pursue his passion in Kolkata, but financial hardships forced him to look for a job with renowned musician, filmmaker and writer Bhupen Hazarika, who helped him to get a part-time work at a film studio in 1967.

However, Gogoi returned to Guwahati the same year and started drawing cartoons for several publications, including Amar Pratinidhi and Asam Bani. He later joined the popular Assamese daily Dainik Asam. He also worked as an assistant to Bhupen Hazarika who edited the Assamese magazine Amar Pratinidhi from 1967 to 1972.

Gogoi made a foray into filmmaking in 1974 with his first feature Khoj and went on to make some pathbreaking films like Mahimamoyee, Sadari, Sendur, Relar Alir Dubari Bon, Morom Nadir Gabharu Ghat and Patni.

The Assam government honoured him with the Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha award in 2017 for his contribution to the field of fine arts in the state.