Actress Sulochana Latkar, who played memorable roles in over 250 Hindi and 50-odd Marathi films, and Sarabjeet Singh alias ‘Gufi’ Paintal – famous as Mahabharat’s Shakuni – passed away due to old-age related problems.
Sulochana, 94, was noted for wide ranging roles, from lead roles supporting characters to a motherly figure, and endeared herself to the viewers for over six decades.
Some of her memorable early performances as the lead heroine were in Marathi films like “Sasurvas”, “Vahinichya Bangdya”, “Meeth Bhakar”, “Sangtye Aika” and “Dhakti Jau” and many more.
Among her top Bollywood films was in the Bimal Roy classic, “Bandini” (1963), which is remembered even today. Over the years she played the on screen mother to many stars including Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rajendra Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Nutan, Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman, Zeenat Aman, Tanuja, et al.
Sulochana was conferred the Padma Shri in 1999, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Gufi was 78 and is best remembered for his role as the cunning ‘Shakuni Mama’ in the mega-teleserial by the late B R Chopra, ‘Mahabharat’ (1988-1990) which was a rage on Doordarshan.
Born on October 4, 1944 in the pilgrim town of Tarn Taran in Punjab, he also worked in films like ‘Rafoo Chakkar’, ‘Dillagi’, ‘Des Pardes’, ‘Suhaag’, and more, besides nearly 18 teleserials in various genres and roles.
Last week, his nephew and actor Hiten Paintal had told mediapersons that his uncle Gufi was serious and had been rushed to a private hospital in Andheri for heart and kidney related problems.
