Alyque, veteran ad and theatre man, dies

Veteran actor, theatre personality and advertising guru Alyque Padamsee died in Mumbai on Saturday morning, family sources said. He was 90.

He is survived by two former wives, a former partner and four children, besides other relatives, several of them prominent names in the glamour and entertainment industry.

Among various professional achievements, Padamsee is best remembered for his role of a stern and stubborn Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning classic Gandhi (1982).

A renowned personality in the English theatre scene, he produced around 70 plays, including notable ones such as Evita, Tughlaqa, Jesus Christ Superstar, Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire and Broken Images.

During his career in advertising, most notably as the CEO of one of India’s biggest advertising agencies, Lintas India, from 1980-1994, Padamsee was involved in nurturing and building over a 100 major products/brands through catchy and imaginative campaigns.

Padamsee was conferred several honours during his lifetime including the Padma Shri, Advertising Man of The Century and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna.