Lucknow :
City based theatre veteran and former director of Bhartendu Natya Akademi Jugal Kishore passed away suddenly here on Sunday evening. He breathed his last at his residence at 7.30pm. He was 61.
Family and close friends shared that Kishore started complaining of restlessness around 6pm while he was watching TV. His wife took him to a private nursing home from where he was referred to the King George’s Medical University where he was declared dead on arrival.
Theatre and film fraternity mourned his death as a great loss. “He was the bridge between progressive theater movement and the realm of cultural acting,” reflected Deepak Kabir a theater person, adding that it was not just through films and theater he established an identity, he was equally a part of all social movements related to women issues, communal harmony, etc.
“In 2011, we had organised a national assembly in Bhopal on gender issues and even though he was famous with Peepli Live, after flying down to Bhopal, he returned with the rest of us in the sleeper class of a train. Such was his simplicity and connect to social change,” reminisced Kabir.
“I met him last week at a programme to felicitate young girl leaders and he had arrived from Bhopal after performing ‘Barefoot in Athens’, his last show,” recalled Veena Rana, adding, “He was already at the venue before we reached. Such was his simplicity and humility.”
A Lucknow University and BNA alumnus, Kishore acted in a number of films including Peepli Live and Dabang-2, besides playing the lead in many theatre productions. He also featured in Bhojpuri films.
His friends remember him as a perfectionist with a love for modern technology. Rang Mandal chief Chitra Mohan said Kishore was a teacher who emphasized on practical understanding of subject rather than rote learning.
BNA director Arun Trivedi said Kishore lived every character he played. Close family friend Punit Asthana said Kishore presented social messages through his acting.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / October 26th, 2015