Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale breathed his last on Saturday afternoon at a Pune hospital.
The actor had been admitted to the hospital for several days and was undergoing treatment following a multiple organ failure earlier this month. According to a family friend, his last rites will be performed in Pune on Saturday evening.
According to doctors at Deenanath Mangeshkat Hospital, where actor was undergoing treatment, the actor’s health deteriorated further on Saturday and he was back on BP support medication. He had continued to be on ventilator support and was critical.
On Saturday afternoon, he breathed his last. His family friend Rajesh Damle said, “His body will be kept for antim darshan at Balgandharv Auditorium. Final rites will be performed at 6pm at Vaikunth crematorium in Pune.”
The actor had been hospitalised for several days. Earlier this week, rumour about his death surfaced on social media following which several Bollywood celebrities including Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, and Jaaved Jaafery among others, took to Twitter to express condolences. His family later denied these rumours.
On Thursday, Vikram’s wife Vrushali Gokhale had shared an update regarding his health. In a statement, Vrushali had said, as quoted by news agency ANI, “Mr Vikram Gokhale is critical since last 24 hours. Doctors are trying their best. He is not responding to the treatment as expected. He has a multiorgan failure.”
A veteran of screen and stage, Vikam Gokhale was a noted actor in Marathi theatre and cinema before making his debut in Hindi films at the age of 26 in Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Parwana (1971). Over a career spanning more than 40 years, he appeared in various films, most notably Agneepath (1990), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), Natsamrat (2015), Hichki (2018), and Mission Mangal (2019).
In 2010, he received the National Award for Best Actor for his work in the Marathi film Anumati. With the Marathi film Aaghaat, he also made his directorial debut. He was last seen in Nikamma alongside Shilpa Shetty and Abhimanyu Dassani. The film hit the theatres in June this year.