Kannada actor Sudhakar, who was shooting for director KM Shashidhar's upcoming directorial Sugarless, passed away earlier today. The comedian and character artiste, a veteran of over 200 films, succumbed to a heart attack.

Talking about the shocking demise of Sudhakar, Shashidhar says, "This was his third day on the sets of Sugarless at Bannerghatta Road (Bengaluru). He had his morning breakfast and was getting ready for the shoot. We saw the actor in a jovial conversation with another senior actor, Dattanna. He enquired about his shot and wanted to take a short nap for a few minutes before facing the camera. But, when our boy went to call him for the shots, he did not respond. Immediate care was taken, and we even rushed him to Fortis Hospital, but he was declared dead." 

Sudhakar, who had heart surgery, was also infected by Covid-19 a couple of months ago, but recovered from it.

Over the years, the actor has been part of films like Pancharangi, Paramathma, Vaastu Prakara, Topiwala, Mukunda Murari, and Mr and Mrs Ramachari, among many others. 

Many members of the Kannada film industry, including actor Darshan, directors Tharun Kishore Sudhir and Suni, took to social media to express their condolences over Sudhakar's untimely demise.

The actor was popularly known as Rockline Sudhakar for his association with Rockline Venkatesh Production house for a long time as a production manager before he quit 10 years ago to actively pursue his acting career. "Sudhakar was working for our production house as a production manager and has handled at least 20 projects made under our banner. It is unfortunate," said Rockline Venkatesh.