Veteran Actress Asha Nadkarni Dies Aged 80

Veteran actress Asha Nadkarni, known for Begunah, Inspector and Dil Aur Mohabbat, died at the age of 80 on June 29. The late actress lived with her family in South Mumbai and was ailing from kidney-related problems for a long time. She was receiving treatment for the same but passed away due to the illness. She is survived by her son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Asha Nadkarni’s son informed the media about his mother’s demise.

Asha Nadkarni was born and brought up in a middle-class family which lived in Pune. They had moved to Mumbai in 1957 and she made her debut as an actress at the age of 15. Her debut film was Mausi produced by Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (popularly known as V Shantaram). Ramesh Deo, Sumati Gupte and Baburao Pendharkar also acted in Mausi which was released on January 1, 1958. Lyricist Bharat Vyas and composer Vasant Desai curated the music for this film.

She soon garnered unparalleled love from the audience for her charismatic performances in Hindi and Marathi films. She proved her acting mettle in films like Navrang, Guru Aur Chela, Chirag and Farishta. The audience loved her acting in Shrimanji, Dil Aur Mohabbat, Albela Mastana and Begunah

Asha Nadkarni got the chance to act alongside some of the famous names of that time from the 50s to the 70s. They included Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Asha Parekh and Sharmila Tagore. Not only acting, but Asha Nadkarni also received widespread fame with her dancing skills.

Her last stint as an actress was the Telugu film Yeh Sach Hai directed by BR Ishara. She portrayed the role of Mrs Rajnath Singh in the film released on January 1, 1975. Rehana Sultan, Mrinal Mukherjee, Sarita, Manmohan Krishna, Asit Kumar Sen and other notable actors comprised the star cast of Yeh Sach Hai. The film is available on Shemaroo Movies.