Veteran actor Shriram Lagoo died at a private hospital in Pune on Tuesday. A stalwart in Marathi theatre and a prolific character artiste in numerous Bollywood movies who was also an ENT surgeon, was 92 when he passed away because of cardiac arrest.
Lagoo worked in Hindi and Marathi Cinema, and was also a director and theatre artist. He has directed over 20 Marathi plays.
According to his acclaimed autobiography 'Lamaan' (A porter), theatre bug bit Lagoo when he was in school and he became a part of Progressive Drama Group, a non-commercial group of theatre lovers when he was in B J Medical College, Pune.
Lagoo, however, did not become a commercial actor until he reached his 40s. He became a surgeon and worked in a hospital in Kenya for some years. After quitting practise and becoming a full-time actor, he tasted commercial success with V Shantaram's 'Pinjra' (1972).
Lagoo was born on November 16, 1927, in Satara, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was known for his roles in movies including ‘Gharaonda’ (1977), ‘Gandhi’ (1982) and ‘Swayamvar’ (1980). The director also played actor Anil Kapoor’s father in the blockbuster movie ‘Kishen Kanhaiya’.
