Doctors treating iconic actor Soumitra Chatterjee on Thursday conducted the first plasmapheresis on the veteran for raising his plasma count and his condition was stable but critical, one of the physicians of the private hospital said in a statement Thursday.

The "first episode" of plasmapheresis was done on 85- year-old Chatterjee and it went off well, with no external bleeding, the doctor said.

"Though there was a little bit of drop in blood pressure that was easily corrected and in the afternoon, we had repeat CT scan which didn't show any abnormalities. He is stable and his blood pressure is now fine," the doctor said.

Chatterjee had fever, the doctor said. "That could be the reason of plasma being given. That may be the cause for temperature. We were worried about some substantial bleeding may happen during plasma. That did not happen," he said.

The doctors are going to repeat the procedure of plasmapheresis and dialysis on the veteran actor on alternate days, he said.

Plasmapheresis is a process in which the liquid part of the blood, or plasma, is separated from the blood cells and replaced with another solution such as saline or albumin, or treated and returned to the body to treat autoimmune disorders.

On the previous day, Tracheostomy was successfully performed on the legendary actor.

Tracheostomy is an opening surgically created through the neck into the windpipe to allow direct access to the breathing tube.

The legendary actor, who debuted in Satyajit Rays masterpiece "Apur Sansar", has been under treatment since the first week of October after testing positive for COVID-19.

He later tested negative for the infection but COVID- 19 encephalopathy set in and various other complications surfaced.