Veteran actor Shriram Lagoo cremated with full state honours

Pune: Veteran actor Dr. Shriram Lagoo was cremated with full state honours at the Vaikunth crematorium here on Friday. Several prominent personalities from diverse fields, including theatre, films and politics, and thousands of others gathered at the cremation ground to pay their last respects to the actor.

Lagoo’s son Anand lit the funeral pyre. The 92-year-old theatre stalwart died at his Pune residence on Tuesday evening after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Before being cremated, the mortal remains of Dr. Lagoo were kept at Balgandharv Auditorium here, where a number of people turned up to pay homage. Actor Nana Patekar, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Pune MP Girish Bapat, state minister Subhash Desai were some of them.

Born in Satara in 1927 and trained as an ENT surgeon by profession, Lagoo played an important role in the growth of theatre movement in Maharashtra and was known for his progressive and rationalist views.

After quitting practice and becoming a full-time actor, he tasted commercial success with V Shantaram’s “Pinjra” (1972). As an actor, his roles in Marathi plays such as “Natsamrat” and “Himalayachi Saoli”, and films like “Pinjra” made him popular.

He essayed memorable roles in Bollywood films like “Ek Din Achanak”, “Gharonda”, “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar” and “Laawaris”. He played the role of Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi”.