Lavani singer and actor Sulochana Chavan passes away

Renowned Lavani singer and actor Sulochana Chavan passed away due to age-related ailments on Saturday morning, one of her family members confirmed. She was 91.

An exponent of Lavani singing - a Marathi style of folk music and dance - Sulochana was honoured with the Padma Shri award this year and has been a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2012) and the Lata Mangeshkar Award (2010) of the Maharashtra Government.

Starting her artistic career at the age of 6, Sulochana was part of local drama, theatre and Garba groups. She also acted in Gujarati, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil films.

She learnt music from V Shantaram. Later, she started singing Lavani and excelled in it. She was given the Queen of Lavani title by the eminent litterateur Acharya PK Atre.

Sulochana married filmmaker S Chavan. The Sulochana was 91 and is survived by her sons and grandchildren, said her granddaughter Aarti Chavan.