Dr Shreeram Lagoo's mortal remains have been kept at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune, till his relatives and son return from the US on Friday.
Dr Shreeram Lagoo. Picture courtesy: Vinod Tawde's Twitter account
State guard of honour will be given to deceased veteran actor Dr Shreeram Lagoo, who breathed his last at the age of 92 in a private hospital in Pune on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the news about his death reached fans and local residents, who started visiting the hospital to see him one last time. Later, hospital authorities had to increase security and informed the public that Dr Lagoo's last rites would be performed on Friday.
Dr Shreeram Lagoo's mortal remains have been kept at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune, till his relatives and son return from the US on Friday. People can pay their last respects to the late actor at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir in Pune. The State Government has issued directions to the Pune city commissioner and Pune collector Naval Kishore Ram regarding Dr Lagoo's final rituals and has directed the authorities to accord the nonagenarian a state funeral.
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Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, managing director, Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital, spoke to mid-day about the day Dr Shreeram Lagoo was brought into the hospital; he said, "Dr Lagoo was brought in on a wheelchair to our hospital on Tuesday evening around 8.30 pm but had already passed away by that time."
At his house in Green Park Society Navsahyadri in Pune, Dr Lagoo's wife, Deepa, is in distress. Speaking to mid-day, the Lagoos' cook Sunanda Chavan said, "For the last ten years, I have been working as a cook in their house. I have never seen dada (Dr Lagoo) and Deepa Tai angry. Dada never had spicy food; he loved sweets. Shankarpali, sheera and basundi were his favourite desserts. There are a lot of sweet memories but I cannot express it. Dada had even come to my son's wedding in my village and did not hesitate to become a part of our family. He served people food and sat down to eat like everyone else."
Baban Majire, Dr Lagoo's driver, said, "I've been working as his driver for the past 25 years. His health was good, but he had good and bad days due to his age. On Tuesday, we went for a drive and later for a walk, as per usual. We returned from our walk after which I went to my room. I received a call from Deepa tai to come back as Dr Lagoo was not responding. We rushed him to the hospital where he was declared dead. He was a gem of a person. This Tuesday was the worst day as I didn't think that will be his last walk."
A renowned and revered theatre and cinema artist, Dr Lagoo was also an ENT surgeon and has acted in more than 100 Hindi and Marathi films. He also worked in more than 40 Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati plays. A versatile personality and man of many talents, Dr Lagoo directed over 20 Marathi plays.
Dr Shreeram Lagoo was born in 1927, in the Satara district of the Bombay Presidency, now Maharashtra, and began working in theatre while in medical college. In 1969, Dr Lagoo became a full-time theatre actor. He played the iconic lead role in the Marathi play Natsamrat, an act he will always be known for.
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