Bollywood absent during 'Padmabhushan' Kamaleshwar's cremation

New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) Noted Hindi writer, veteran journalist and Bollywood script writer 'Padmabhushan' Kamaleshwar who passed away here last night, was today consigned to the flames in the presence of hundreds of his followers, fans, colleagues and peers.

His grandson Anant lit the pyre at about 1500 hrs.

The 'pen man' of eminence, whose 'Aandhi' stirred much controversy in the 70s leading to its ban, was cremated at the Lodhi Road crematorium here.

Despite a galaxy of well known writers, artists and journalists marking their presence to pay the 'working genius' their last respects, starkingly conspicuous was the absence of any known face from Bollywood -- the industry for which Kamaleshwar wrote scripts for about 100-odd films.

Several writers and critics like Ashok Vajpayee, Mahesh 'Darpan', Mahip Singh, Pradeep Pant, Rajendra Yadav, Madhukar Gangadhar, Asgar Bajahat, Padma Sachdev, his 'colleagues' from Doordarshan and All India Radio and from the media fraternity like Alok Mehta and Prabhash Joshi offered floral tributes to him just before the last rites were performed.

Among those present from the political sphere were Sitaram Yechury, Suresh Pachauri and Janardhan Dwivedi besides social activist Swami Agnivesh.

Known for his 'parallel agitation' of 1970s which affected writings in several Indian languages, Kamaleshwar, whose recent hard-hitting novel 'Kitne Pakistan' attracted a wide range of critical appreciation from all corners, also carved a niche for himself on the small screen with big time hits like 'Yug' and 'Chandrakanta'.

The veteran Hindi writer died of cardiac arrest last night at the age of 74.

He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Author of several books and born on January 6, 1932 in Uttar Pradesh, Kamaleshwar worked with Doordarshan as an Additional Director-General besides having served as the Editor of Hindi daily 'Rashtriya Sahara' and 'Sarika' magazine.

UNI