Actor, ad film-maker Alyque Padamsee no more

Mumbai, Nov 17: Veteran ad filmmaker Alyque Padamsee passed away in Mumbai on Saturday. Padamsee is known for his role as Jinnah in the movie Gandhi.

Padamsee is also known for his English language theatre productions in India like Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tuglaq, and his latest, Broken Images, which was invited to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2011.

Recently, he was appointed to the Prime Minister's AIDS Task Force (Earlier served as Advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Commercial Television).

President Ramnath Kovind, said, "Sorry to hear of the passing of Alyque Padamsee, creative guru, theatre personality and doyen of our ad industry. My condolences to his family, friends and colleagues."

Sorry to hear of the passing of Alyque Padamsee, creative guru, theatre personality and doyen of our ad industry. My condolences to his family, friends and colleagues #PresidentKovind

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 17, 2018

Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, tweeted, " If you grew up in south Mumbai in the
70s, did a bit of theatre, went to Xavier's college, watched the Liril ad and imbibed the cosmopolitan spirit of a city that simply loved life and its people, then Alyque Padamsee was an iconic figure.. RIP"

If you grew up in south Mumbai in the 70s, did a bit of theatre, went to Xaviers college , watched the Liril ad and imbibed the cosmopolitan spirit of a city that simply loved life and its people , then Alyque Padamsee was an iconic figure.. RIP

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 17, 2018

Padamsee

Padamsee was born in 1928 into a traditional Khoja Muslim family from Gujarat. He was one of the eight children. In the theatre world, he was known for his theatre productions like Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Tuglaq.

Padamsee in public life

He works for the Citizens for Justice & Peace, the Citizens Action Group, and he is on the Advisory Council of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay). Earlier he worked as Communications Advisor to Chandrababu Naidu, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh State.

Padamsee's family

Padamsee's first wife was Pearl Padamsee, a Christian lady born to a Jewish mother and Christian father. They had two children, a daughter, Raell Padamsee and son, Rahul Padamsee. Padamsee then had an extended relationship with Dolly Thakore, and for all intents and purposes they were assumed to be man and wife by the world. Dolly and Padamsee had a son Quasar Padamsee. Padamsee then married Sharon Prabhakar, with whom he has a daughter, Shazahn Padamsee. All three women were connected with the performing arts, specifically with theatre and television.

Played Muhammad Ali Jinnah's role

He was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre by the Sangeet Natak Akademi; and this January the Tagore Ratna. Internationally, he is known for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. Pic Courtesy: @FilmHistoryPic