Veteran actress Uttara Baokar passed away at the age of 79, on Tuesday at a hospital in Pune after a protracted illness. As per reports, her final rites were carried out on Wednesday morning.
The National School of Drama (NSD)-trained actress Uttara Baokar has performed in a variety of roles, including Padmavati in Mukyhamantri, Mena in Mena Gurjari, Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, and mother in playwright Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq, among others. For her work in Mrinal Sen’s Ek Din Achanak, Baokar also won the National Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984, she also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Her performances in Govind Nihalani’s Tamas and Rukmavati Ki Haveli received praise as well.
Several celebrities took to social media to express their grief on her demise. Actor Manoj Joshi tweeted, “Demise of Uttara Baokar Ji is an irreparable loss to Indian Film Industry. Deeply pained by her demise. Om Shanti.”
ctress Neena Kulkarni wrote on Twitter, “A remarkable actress. A sensitive and private person in real life, Uttara tai was the epitome of dignity and humility. Time spent with her during the making of films Uttarayan and Shevri, have added value to my life.
She collaborated on multiple films with director Sunil Sukthankar, who described her as a disciplined performer. He claimed that she used to have a no-nonsense attitude while working on sets. PTI quoted him as saying, “She played a variety of female roles in our movies and she was one disciplined actor. When on the sets, there a no-nonsense attitude used to prevail.”
