Year Ender: Notable Deaths In India In 2023

As we approach the conclusion of another eventful year, it is time to take a moment to remember the individuals who left an indelible mark on our world but have, regrettably, departed from it.

The year 2023 has been marked by the loss of notable personalities from various fields, leaving behind legacies that continue to shape our collective memory. Let's remember those who left us in the year:

Sharad Yadav
Veteran politician and former JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav died on January 12 at a private hospital in Gurugram. He was 75. In his long political career, Sharad Yadav won the Lok Sabha election seven times and was Rajya Sabha MP four times

Jamuna
Veteran Telugu actress Jamuna, who was the female lead to legendary N T Rama Rao and other leading stars of yesteryear, passed away on January 27 due to old age. She was 87.

Jamuna, who immortalised the character of Satyabhama in mythological films, had started acting in stage plays at a young age and went on to act in over 200 films. Though she acted mainly in Telugu films, Jamuna also worked in a few Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. Jamuna was elected to Lok Sabha from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh on behalf of the Congress in 1989.

Shanti Bhushan
Former Union law minister and eminent jurist Shanti Bhushan died Tuesday at his home in Delhi following a brief illness, a source close to his family said. He was 97.

Bhushan, who was also a senior advocate, served as the law minister from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai cabinet. Bhushan, whose sons Jayant and Prashant Bhushan are leading lawyers, was active in the legal profession till recently and had argued on a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal.

C Lalitha
C Lalitha, younger of the famous Carnatic duo Bombay sisters, passed away at the age of 85 in Chennai on 31 January 2023. Lalitha and her elder sister C Saroja performed music together since their early years and the duo was awarded Padma Shri in 2020.

Former India footballer Parimal Dey, a member of the country's bronze medal-winning team in the 1966 Merdeka Cup, passed away on February 1 after a prolonged age-related illness. He was 81.

A highly skilful inside-left during his prime in the 1960s, Dey made five appearances for India, with his only goal for the country being the all-important winner against the Republic of Korea in the Bronze Medal match of the 1966 Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the solitary goal in the game.

K Viswanath
Dadasaheb Phalke awardee and renowned filmmaker Kasinadhuni Viswanath passed away at the age of 92 on February 3. A prominent name not just in Telugu cinema but also in Tamil and Hindi films, he became the 48th recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest recognition in Indian cinema. He was conferred with the award for the year 2016.

Vani Jayaram
Veteran singer Vani Jayaram who has sung over 10,000 songs in 19 languages including the very popular Hindi number 'bole re papihara' passed away on February 3.

Vani started her career in the early 1970s and continued singing for over five decades. She was 77.

Satish Kaushik
Actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik passed away following a heart attack on March 9. He was 66. Known for his comic timing, Kaushik was also a director. His most popular films as a filmmaker are Salman Khan starrer 'Tere Naam' and 'Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai', starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Tusshar Kapoor.

S Parkash Singh Badal
Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron S Parkash Singh Badal passed away on April 25 at the age of 95. He served as the Chief Minister of Punjab multiple times. He was the CM from 1970-1971, from 1977-1980, from 1997-2002, and from 2007-2017. He was also the youngest Chief Minister to have ever hold office in the state of Punjab.

Manobala
Well-known Tamil actor-director Manobala died here on Wednesday following illness on May 3. In a four-decade-old cinema career, he started off as a director after working under the legendary filmmaker Bharathirajaa, and went on to make movies with top stars including Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth and Sathyaraj.

Sarath Babu
Veteran actor Sarath Babu who has worked in both Tamil and Telugu films, died at a hospital in Hyderabad on May 22. The veteran actor was 71. He acted in more than 200 films across languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi.

Oommen Chandy
Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, who served as the chief minister of Kerala twice, died in Bengaluru in the early hours of August 22. He was the chief minister twice for a total of seven years (2004-2006 and again from 2011-2016). Chandy had also served as Minister of Labour, Home, and Finance in various governments headed by K Karunakaran and A K Antony. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly.

Representing Puthuppally constituency, Chandy served as the MLA for more than half a century setting the record for the longest tenure.

CR Rao
Renowned mathematician and statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, widely known as C R Rao, passed away at the age of 102 on August 22.

KG George
Veteran filmmaker KG George has died. He was in his late seventies. He had won the Kerala State Film Awards for his movies 'Yavanika', 'Swapnadanam', 'Adaminte Vaariyellu' and
Iraka'. 'Panchavadi Palam' directed by him in 1984 is considered one of the best political satire films in Malayalam cinema.

MS Swaminathan
Renowned agricultural scientist and the architect of India's "Green Revolution" Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan passed away on September 28. He was 98.

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, who was an agronomist, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator, and humanitarian, held a distinguished position as a global leader of the green revolution.

Leelavathi
Leelavathi, who acted in more than 600 films, including in Tamil and Telugu, died at a private hospital in Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru on December 8.