The common man's protagonist and master story teller, Tapan Sinha, gave in to his prolonged illness on Thursday, at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in south Kolkata.

Dadasaheb Phalke award winner, Sinha (84) was suffering from pneumonia and septicaemia and is survived by a son. His actress-wife Arundhuti Devi passed away in 1990.

Sinha, 84, had won won 19 National Awards in various categories and was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement last year. This globally accredited, but less spoken of, filmmaker also won several awards in international film festivals like those in Berlin, Venice, London, Moscow, San Francisco and Locarno.

It is said that Charles Dicken's 'A Tale of Two cities' and its film version inspired Sinha to join films and he then went on to script a history of his brilliant works. With idols like William Wyler and John Ford, he entered the film world as a technician.

His most memorable films include "Ankush", "Ek Doctor Ki Maut", "Safed Haathi" and "Kabuliwala", "Nirjan Saikate", "Haate Bazare" and "Admi aur Aurat".