Pune: Noted actor and theatre artist Uttara Baokar passed away at the age of 79 in Pune city of Maharashtra following a prolonged illness, sources close to her family said. 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.
She left behind a brother and sister and was battling cancer. Baokar was a standout in Mrinal Sen's Ek Din Achanak, playing the wife of a professor who never returns home. She received the National Award for the best supporting actress because of it. In both Marathi and Hindi films, Baokar was known for her versatility. Her powerful performances in plays like Umrao Jaan were widely discussed. She also directed Kusum Kumar's Hindi version of Jayant Dalvi's Marathi play Sandhyachhaya.
She was a National School of Drama student who won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984. She later rose to the position of professor at the school. Baokar played many different roles in various plays, including Padmavati in Mukyhamantri, Mena in Mena Gurjari, Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello, and the mother in playwright Girish Karnad's Tughlaq, among others. Following her appearance in Govind Nihlani's film Tamas, Baokar gained notoriety.
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. (With agency inputs)
