Legendary Bollywood and Marathi stage, television, and movie actor Vikram Gokhale breathed his last today at the age of 77. He was undergoing treatment at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital for multiple health complications for the last few days.
Known as one of the most handsome actors to grace the Marathi silver screen, Vikram Gokhale was a dynamic personality who was equally successful on the Marathi stage, on television, and in Marathi, Bollywood, and other regional film industries.
Vikram was born to a family that had a legacy of stage and film actors. Born to famous Marathi character actor Chandrakant Gokhale, he was the great-grandson of Durgabai Kamat, the first lady film actor of India, and grandson of Kamlabai Gokhale, the first female child artist of the Indian film industry.
Dynamic lead actor in Marathi to excelling as a supporting actor in Bollywood
Vikram Gokhale started as a Marathi theater artist during the 1960s and subsequently made his foray into the Hindi and Marathi film world. His first movie was Parvana released in 1971 with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. This pair of Big B and Vikram went on to give some remarkable performances together that are still alive in the minds of Bollywood fans.
Who can forget the role of Commissioner G.S. Gaitonde in Agneepath that Vikram made so memorable with his superb acting? The interaction between Vijay (Amitabh) and Gaitonde to date is considered iconic. Fans were treated with the same magic when Amitabh as Baadshah Khan and Gokhale as Jailer Ranveer Singh Sethi united once again on the big screen in Khuda Gswah.
Some of his other prominent Bollywood movies include Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram, Bhool Bhulaiyaa with Akshay Kumar, Priyadarshan’s De Dana Dan, Akshay Kumar’s Mission Mangal, Hrithik Roshan’s Bang Bang, Aiyaary and many more.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, he worked in around 90 movies. He also enjoyed immense success as an actor on Marathi television and was featured in 15 Marathi television serials.
In 2010, he turned director with Aaghaat, a Marathi movie.
Awards and recognition
He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2011 for his contribution as an actor to Marathi Theater. He also won National Film Award for the Marathi movie Anumati in the Best actor category.