Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he was a teetotaller throughout his life.

I started boozing when I left my home town and came to Bombay to become a film hero.

I lived in a dingy room in the railway quarters with nothing to eat, but lots to drink.

He used to share a very good relation with the iconic director Ritwik Ghatak and had very tiny but important roles in the maestro's films such as the trickster in Bari Theke Paliye, the madman in Ajantrik or character roles in Nagarik and Jukti Takko Aar Gappo.

Keshto Mukherjee died on March 3, 1982, due to a heart attack in Mumbai (then Bombay).