Actor Vikram Gokhale passes away at 77
Among his most recent films was Nikhil Mahajan’s ‘Godavari’.
Vikram Gokhale, the renowned actor whose career spanned cinema, theatre, television and web series, died on Saturday in Pune, ANI reported. He was 77.
Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, where the actor was hospitalised, said in a statement that he died due to multi-organ failure, according to NDTV.
A fourth-generation actor, Gokhale was the great-grandson of pioneering actor Durgabai Kamat, the grandson of Kamlabai Gokhale and the son of Chandrakant Gokhale. Like his forbearers, Vikram Gokhale cut his teeth in plays before moving into films in the early 1970s.
Gokhale had prominent roles in Marathi productions, including Kalat Nakalat, Mukta, Natsamrat and Me Shivaji Park. He was a reliable character actor in Hindi films too, including Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (in which he played a laid-off mill worker), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (as a music maestro), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (as a religious scholar) and Aiyaary (as an army general). His natural gravitas saw him being cast as a police officer in several films by Mukul S Anand (Insaaf, Agneepath, Khuda Gawah).
In 2013, Gokhale won a National Film Award for his performance as a man struggling to treat his ailing wife in Gajendra Ahire’s Anumati. Gokhale was also seen in the Hindi films Mission Mangal, Nikamma and the web series Avrodh: The Siege Within. His most recent theatrical release in Marathi was Nikhil Mahajan’s Godavari, in which he played a family patriarch with dementia.
Gokhale became a household name with a series of popular television shows, including Dwidhaata, Junoon and Jeevan Saathi. In 2010, he turned director with the Marathi-language Aaghaat, co-starring Mukta Barve. He is survived by his wife, Vrushali Gokhale, and two daughters.
