Veteran actor Chandrashekhar no more
He was best known as Ramayan’s Arya Sumant
Veteran actor, filmmaker and social activist Chandrashekhar passed away this morning at Mumbai. He was 97. He died in his sleep at his home, following age-related complications.
In a startling coincidence, his wife Pushpa Devi passed away on the same day in
2010, says
Chandrashekhar’s son Ashok Shekhar, who has been producing TV programmes and films for several years.
Best known for playing Arya Sumant in the epic television series Ramayan, Chandrashekhar was born in Hyderabad State under British India on July 9, 1922. He worked as a watchman and a trolley-puller in a mill for meagre remuneration, before following his dream of becoming an actor and moving to Bombay, Ashok tells us.
Chandrashekhar worked as an extra for a mere ` 8 before he got a junior artiste’s role in Bebas (1950), with Bharat Bhushan as the lead actor. He also acted as a junior artiste in film like Nirdoshi (1951), Daag (1952) Farmaish (1953) and Meenar (1954) before he started a full-fledged acting career with V.Shantaram.
He was President of the Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTA) for a number of years.
Recalling an incident from his father’s life Ashok said, “I remember when he was produc ing a film and Mohamad Rafi saab’s remunera tion was handed over to his secretary Mohammad Rafi saab instantly took the money and returned it to my father. But my father con vinced him to accept the remuneration, and he agreed to take just half the amount. Such wa the relationship and the attitude of people in Bollywood then.”