Actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar passes away

Veteran Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who essayed villainous and comic roles with equal ease and gave powerful performances in "Ardh Satya" and "Sadak", died here today after battling lung infection.

Amrapukar, who was 64, died at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital here.

"Sadashiv Amarapurkar was suffering from Interstitial lung Disease and passed away peacefully at 2.45 am," his daughter Rima Amrapurkar said.

The body of Amrapukar will be kept at Bhaidas Auditorium, Vile Parle west today to enable people to pay their last respects.

Amrapukar's last rites will be performed at his native place in Ahmednagar district tomorrow, Rima said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bollywood fraternity took to Twitter to condole the death of Amrapukar.

"We will remember Sadashiv Amrapurkar as a versatile actor, popular across generations. RIP. My deepest condolences to his family," Modi tweeted.

Amitabh Bachchan, who is currently shooting his upcoming film 'Piku' in Kolkata, said the actor was close to his heart.

"Waking up in Kolkata to the sad news of the passing away of Sadasiv Amrapurkar.. A colleague and a gifted talent.. Prayers! When a colleague suddenly passes away there is a sudden vacuum, of times spent together, of acknowledgement of their work..," Bachchan posted on Twitter.

Amrapukar played iconic character roles including as a ruthless eunuch in 'Sadak', a villain in 'Ardh Satya' and a selfish father in 'Ishq' with an effortless ease. Ardh Satya was Amrapukar's debut Hindi film in 1983.

Amrapurkar had won two Filmfare awards. In 1984, he won the award for the best supporting actor for "Ardh Satya" and in 1991, the best villain trophy for his portrayal in "Sadak".

 His other works included "Aankhen", "Ishq", "Coolie No. 1" and "Gupt: The Hidden Truth".

Ironically, while he would instill fear with his negative roles on-screen, the actor was a true gentleman in real life and was involved in many social activities.

 He later shifted his focus on Marathi movies. Amrapurkar was last seen on the big screen in 2012 film 'Bombay Talkies'. He had become selective and was more into social work in the last few years.

Right from his younger days, Amrapurkar was into acting and was part of several plays in school and college.

He was a trained singer but was advised that his highly nasal baritone would prevent him from achieving fame — so at the age of 21, Sadashiv migrated to theatre and the stage.

He acted in more than 50 plays and also began to act in minor roles in Marathi cinema until in 1979.

In 1981-82, Amrapurkar acted in a Marathi stage play 'Hands-Up!' alongside stage actors Avinash Masurekar and Bhakti Barve-Inamdar. 

This play was a super-hit and Amrapurkar was noticed by director Govind Nihalani who was searching for an artiste to play the central negative character in his movie 'Ardh Satya'.