Mumbai, June 15 (). Chandrashekhar Vaidya, a veteran actor of Hindi cinema, died on 16 June 2021 at the age of 98. He played the excellent character of Sumanth in Ramanand Sagar’s ‘Ramayana’. He acted in more than 110 films in his career.
Chandrashekhar Vaidya was born on 7 July 1922 in Telangana (then Hyderabad). He left college in the early 1940s and came to Bombay and entered the film industry. On the recommendation of singer Shamshad Begum, she started working at Shalimar Studio in Pune.
In the year 1950, he debuted as a junior artist with the film ‘Bebas’ and gradually made his place in supporting roles. As an actor, he worked in the 1953 film ‘Surang’. After this, he worked in many films like ‘Kali Topi Lal Rumal’, ‘Baradari’, ‘Basant Bahar’, ‘Gateway of India’, ‘Fashion’, ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’, ‘Angulimal’, ‘Rustom-e-Baghdad’, ‘Jahan Ara’.
In the year 1964, Chandrashekhar Vaidya produced, directed and played the lead role in the film ‘Cha Cha Cha’. After this he also produced and directed ‘Street Singer’. Chandrashekhar became a character artist as lead roles dwindled by the end of the 1960s. Overall he did more than 110 films.
Chandrashekhar Vaidya gained immense popularity with the character of Arya Sumanth in Ramanand Sagar’s epic series ‘Ramayana’. He played this role at the age of 64 and his role is still indelible in the minds of the audience.
Chandrashekhar was the President of the Cine Artists Association from 1985 to 1996 and played an active role in the welfare of film industry employees. He retired from acting after the film ‘Khauff’ in the year 2000. Chandrashekhar got married at the age of 13. He wanted to study but could study only till 7th standard. Chandrashekhar Vaidya lived a very simple life. His son Ashok Shekhar is a TV producer.
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