Veteran actress Sharmili Ahmed died on Friday morning while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

She was 75.

Actors Equity president Ahsan Habib Nasim confirmed the news.

‘Sharmili Ahmed was diagnosed cancer some days ago. She died at about 9:30am while undergoing treatment at the Evercare Hospital,’ said Ahsan Habib Nasim.

‘Her body is being taken to her house in Uttara. The time of her namaz-e-janaza will be decided later,’ added Nasim.

Sharmili Ahmed was born to a culturally inclined family on May 8, 1947 in Belur Chok Village in Murshidabad in the Indian state of West Bengal.

She was the eldest among her six siblings. Her younger sister, Wahida Mollick Jolly, is also a renowned actress.

Within a few months of her birth, during the partition of India, her family moved to Rajshahi and Sharmili Ahmed grew up there.

She had a keen interest for acting from the very beginning of her childhood. She first performed in a stage play that was directed by her father at the age of four.

Sharmili Ahmed has grown up seeing devotion for singing, acting and other forms of cultural activities.

In the early 60s’, she worked as an announcer and drama artiste in Rajshahi Radio.

She started her acting career through Urdu film titled Jugnu in 1968. Sharmili Ahmed-staring Urdu films are Jugnu, Ujala, Panchi Baura and Thikana.

Her first Bengali film was Subhash Dutta-directed Abirbhab in 1968.

Some of her remarkable works are Brishtir Porey, Amader Anando Bari, Aguntuk, Poshak, Anchol, Chena Manusher Panchalee, Dhupchhaya, Uposhonghar, Poush Phaguner Pala, Meherjaan, Chheleti, Abar Hawa Bodol and others.