Noted actor and theatre artist Uttara Baokar died at the age of 79 in Pune city of Maharashtra following a prolonged illness, sources close to her family said.
Uttara Baokar, who was ailing for the last one year, breathed her last at a hospital on Tuesday. Her last rites were performed on Wednesday morning, they said.
Uttara Baokar, who studied acting at the National School of Drama (NSD), played various roles in different plays such as Padmavati in Mukyhamantri, Mena in Mena Gurjari, Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, mother in playwright Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq, among others.
Uttara Baokar came in the limelight following her role in Govind Nihlani’s movie Tamas. She also acted in Sumitra Bhave’s feature films.
Filmmaker Sunil Sukthankar said he worked in around eight feature films with her and his long-time collaborator Sumitra Bhave used to reckon her as an actor who could portray strong female characters.
“She played a variety of female roles in our movies and she was one disciplined actor. When on the sets, there a no-nonsense attitude used to prevail,” he recalled.