Doyen of Marathi film industry Bhalchandra Kulkarni passes away in Maharashtra's Kolhapur

KOLHAPUR: Renowned Marathi actor Bhalchandra Kulkarni passed away at his Kolhapur's residence on Saturday morning. He was 88 years of age.

Kulkarni acted in over 250 movies, few of them Hindi and most of them Marathi, acted in several theatre plays, television serials during four decades of his career.

He started acting in 1965, firstly in the Folk Plays. He used to call himself a product of Tamasha- traditional form of Maharashtra's theatre. Kulkarni contributed his part in several legendary Marathi movies such as Songadya, Pinjara and several others.

Arjun Nalawade, film activist based in Kolhapur said, "He had complained about breathlessness two days ago. He was admitted in a private hospital and got discharge on Friday. He died on Saturday morning. From one-act plays, to folk dramas, full-length movies, serials, Kulkarni has acted in all formats of the industry."

Kulkarni was vocal about the welfare of Marathi artists. During Covid pandemic, he appealed producers to stop the shooting of the serials and movies to ensure social distancing is followed. Death of a senior female actor due to Covid, who had acted by his side in several movies, prompted him to make the appeal.