Dramatist Vinod Sharma dead

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Veteran commentator and dramatist Pt Vinod Sharma today passed away after a prolonged illness, family sources said. <br /><br />Sharma, an acclaimed Sanskrit scholar, was born in Kanpur and started his career in Lahore with Pancholi Pictures. He later went to Delhi during Partition and joined All India Radio in 1948.<br /><br />Recepient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the “best voice artist� last year, Sharma, 78, was a pioneer in advertising and had achieved appreciation for his dramatic presentation through all kinds of media, his brother Nandlal Sharma told PTI here. <br /><br />Having command over Sanskrit and phonetics, Sharma could bring the radio drama alive to his listeners, he added. <br /><br />Sharma, the man behind several famous commerical advertisements like "Iodex <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">maliye, kam pe chaliye</span>" and "Vicks <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">ki goli lo</span>'', came to Mumbai to join Vividh Bharati in 1954 but left it to become a freelancer. <br /><br />Well versed in Hindi and Urdu, Sharma had also dubbed for several Telugu and Tamil films for Hindi speaking audience. <br /><br />He also scripted and dubbed Richard Attenborough''s film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Gandhi</span> and several Russian films, Nandlal said. <br /><br />Sharma, one of the founders of Radio And Television Advertisement Practioners Assocaition, had won several awards. <br /><br />He is survived by wife and a daughter<br /><br /><formid=367815><br /></formid=367815></div> </div>