Gol Maal actress Manju Singh dies of stroke, Swanand Kirkire mourns pioneer TV personality’s death

Noted producer-actor Manju Singh, best known for shows such as “Swaraj”, “Ek Kahani” and “Show Time”, has died after suffering a stroke. She was 73.

Fondly called didi by her industry colleagues, Singh was praised for highlighting social and cultural issues through her shows as a producer like “Adhikar”, “Samyaktva: True Insight”, among others.

She also featured in filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1979 classic film “Gol Maal”, playing the role of Ratna, the sister of Amol Palekar’s Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma. According to Singh’s elder daughter Suparna, the producer breathed her last at her residence on Thursday morning.

“She passed away due to a stroke at around 10 am on Thursday at her residence,” Suparna told PTI.

Her last rites were performed on Saturday as the family was waiting for her granddaughter to arrive from New York.

Award-winning lyricist-screenwriter Swanand Kirkire — who worked with her on Doordarshan show “Swaraj” as a writer — condoled her death in a post on Twitter.

“Manju Singh is no more. Manju ji brought me from Delhi to Mumbai to write her show ‘Swaraj’ for Doordarshan. She made many wonderful shows ‘Ek Kahani’, ‘Show Time’ etc for DD. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal Ki Ratna Hamari Pyaari Manju ji how can you forget your love. Goodbye,” he wrote.

Singh was also the anchor of the children’s program, “Khel Khilone”, which she conducted for seven years. She is survived by her daughters Suparna, Shalini and son Gautam.