Sulochana Latkar Age, Death, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Birth name	Nagabai
Nickname	Rangu Diwan
Profession	Actor
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• India’s fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri (1999) • Chita Bhushan Award (2003) • Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) • Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award (4 times) • Maharashtra’s highest civilian award, Maharashtra Bhushan (2009) • Saraswatibai Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award (2019)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	Source 1: 30 July 1928 (Monday) [1]Outlook Source 2: 30 July 1929 (Thursday) [2]Maharashtra Times
Birthplace	Khadaklat village, Belgaum district, Bombay Presidency, British India (now Belagavi district, Karnataka, India)
Date of Death	4 June 2023
Place of Death	Mumbai
Age (at the time of death)	Source 1: 93 Years Source 2: 94 Years
Death Cause	Age-related illness [3]Zee 24 Taas
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	• British Indian (till 1947) • Indian (1947-2023)
Hometown	Mumbai
Educational Qualification	Class 5
Hobby	Knitting
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Not known
Family
Husband/Spouse	Abasaheb Chavan (belonged to a rich family of landlords in Maharashtra) Note: She got married to him at the age 15.
Children	Daughter- Kanchan Ghanekar (Dr. Kashinath Ghanekar's wife)
Parents	Father- Her father was a policeman. Note: Both of her parents passed away because of an outbreak of a plague when Sulochana was 12-13 years of age.
Siblings	Brother- 1 (ten years elder than her)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sulochana Latkar

• Sulochana Katkar was an Indian actress who worked predominately in the Marathi and Hindi film industries. She acted in over 250 films including Sujata (1959), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961), Johny Mera Naam (1970), and Kora Kagaz (1974). She gained fame for acting as the mother of the characters essayed by renowned actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand, and Rajesh Khanna in various Bollywood films.

• Following her parents’ death, Sulochana, her elder brother, and her widowed aunt moved to Kolhapur from their native village. There, the trio lived at the house of a lawyer who was an old friend of Sulochana’s father.

• To help her family sustain itself financially, Sulochana started working at the Kolhapur-based Prafulla Pictures, a film studio owned by Master Vinayak, whom she met through her father’s friend. There, she was employed at a monthly salary of Rs. 30 and appeared in several films as an extra. While giving an interview, Sulochana talked about it and said,
  

  Binadekar received us with open arms but it was improper for us to depend upon him for very long. One day, Binadekar’s acquaintance, well known producer-director Master Vinayak came to meet him. Master Vinayak was the owner of Kolhapur’s Prafulla Pictures film company. When he came to know about our dire circumstances, he invited me to Kolhapur and gave me a job in the company.”

• It was while working at Prafulla Pictures, Sulochana came into contact with Lata Mangeshkar who was also working there.
  

  A photo of Sulochana with Lata Mangeshkar

• She quit her job at the Prafulla Studios after the company was shifted from Kolhapur to Bombay (now Mumbai) as she was not comfortable moving to such a big city.

• She appeared in a 1943 Marathi film titled Chimukla Sansar.
  

  A poster of Chimukla Sansar

• Sulochana landed a role in Maharathi Karna, a 1944 Hindi mythological film.

• In 1946, she acted in a Tamil film titled Valmiki.

• She appeared in a lead role for the first time in 1947 in the Marathi film Sasuravaas.

• After leaving her job at the Prafulla Studios, Sulochana was hired by the Kolhapur-based Jayaprabha Studio, owned by the filmmaker Bhalji Pendharkar, at a monthly remuneration of Rs. 30; she worked at the studio till 1948. During a media interaction, she revealed the reason for her leaving the work was that the studio was set ablaze by the rioters who were protesting against the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse. She further revealed that Pendharkar’s studio was targeted by the mob as he was affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the same organisation in which Godse had worked. Talking about it, she said,
  

  After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, riots against Brahmins and RSS members spread across Mahrashtra. Many were killed as a result and many properties were set afire including Jayaprabha Studio. Bhalji Pendharkar was even arrested at the time. In this situation, he relieved all the employees of the studio of their duties after giving them two months’ salaries.”

• While working at Jayaprabha Studio, she took classes in horseriding and using sticks and swords.

• She thereafter went to Pune, where she began working with Mangal Pictures.

• She bagged a role in Jeevacha Sakha, a 1948 Marathi film.
  

  A poster of Jeevacha Sakha

• She gained prominence after the release of the 1952 Marathi film Stree Janma Hi Tujhi Kahani.
• She shifted to Bombay from Pune in 1953.

• In 1954, she appeared in Aurat Teri Yahi Kahani, a Hindi remake of Stree Janma Hi Tujhi Kahani.

• She shared the screen with the actor Surendra Nath in Mahatma Kabir, a Hindi film that was released in the same year.

• In 1956, she landed a role in the Hindi mythological film Sati Ansuya. During a media interaction, Sulochana revealed that after appearing in Sati Ansuya, she stopped getting acting offers because back then, those actors who did not act in mythological films were preferred over those who did.

• In the 1957 Bollywood film Ab Dilli Dur Nahin, Sulochana Latkar played the role of a character named Bela.

• Sulochana appeared as the mother of the character played by Nutan in the 1959 Hindi film Sujata. In an interview, Sulochana said that she at first was unsure whether she should take up the role or not. She further said,
  

  One day Bimal Roy invited me to play the mother’s role for his film Sujata (1959). Though, I could not decline the offer, I couldn’t help wondering how, I, at merely 30 years of age could play the role of a mother. But on the advice of Durga Khote and Lalita Pawar, I convinced myself mentally to take up character roles also.”

  

  Sulochana Latkar in a still from the 1959 film Sujata

• With a career spanning decades, Sulochana acted with several renowned actors in numerous films including Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) as Kaikeyi, Kati Patang (1970) as Mrs. Dinanath, Kahani Kismat Ki (1973) as Mrs Sharma, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) as Vinod Khanna’s character’s mother, Ek Daav Bhutacha (1982) as Radha Mavashi, Andha Kanoon (1983), Sasu Varchadh Jawai (1984), and Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) as Shatrughan Sinha’s character’s mother.
  

  A poster of Maratha Tituka Melvava

  

  Sulochna Latkar with Vinod Khanna in a film

• Sulochana Latkar breathed her last at around 6 pm on 4 June 2023 at Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, Mumbai. According to sources, Sulochana was undergoing treatment at the hospital for an age-related illness. While informing the media about Sulochana’s demise, her family said,
  

  She had age-related health issues and breathing difficulties. She died this evening at 6 pm. We are deeply saddened to inform you of the passing of our beloved grandmother, Smt. Sulochana Didi Noted Film Actress after a prolonged illness that has been age-related.”

• On 5 June 2023, her last rites were conducted with full state honours at the Shivaji Park Crematorium in Dadar, Mumbai. ^[4]Zee 24 Taas

• She was given the screen name Sulochana by Pendharkar with whom she worked at Jayaprabha Studio.

• Sulochana Latkar once said that she used to present her co-actors with hand-woven sweaters.

• Sulochana liked to eat sweets.

• As per B. D. Samand and Sahabuddin, popular film historians, Sulochana Latkar’s family followed Islam; however, their claims were rebuked by Kanchan Ghanekar as untruthful and baseless.