Veteran Hindi and Marathi film actor Sulochana passes away

Veteran Hindi and Marathi film actor Sulochana Latkar passed away due to age-related issues on Sunday. She was 94.

As per reports, her daughter Kanchan Ghanekar confirmed the news of her demise and said, “She had age related health issues and breathing difficulties. She died this evening at 6pm.” According to a family statement, her ‘antim darshan’ will be held at her Prabhadevi residence in Mumbai. Her cremation will be held on Monday at 5.30 pm at Shivaji Park crematorium.

The actor made her debut with the Marathi film Sasurvas in 1946. The other Marathi films she worked in were Vahinichya Bangdya (1953) and Sangtye Aika (1959) among others. When she moved to Hindi cinema, she played several mother roles in movies like Shammi Kapoor’s Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Dilip Kumar’s Aadmi (1968) and Dev Anand’s Jhonny Mera Naam (1970) among others.

She said in an interview that she loved playing mother to three actors – Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand and Rakjesh Khanna. She often played mother or a close relative in Hindi films with Sunil Dutt as the leading man such as in Mehrbaan (1967) and Bhai Bahen (1969), among others.

Other credits of the actor include Kora Kagaz (1974), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)–in which she played Vinod Khanna’s mother–, Himmatwala (1983) and Andar Baahar (1984), in which she played Jackie Shroff’s mother.

The actor was a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri (1999). She was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. In 2009, she was awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan Award by the Government of Maharashtra.