Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar

Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar passes away
19 May 2008, 0914 hrs IST,AGENCIES

Vijay Tendulkar
Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar
PUNE: Noted Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar died on Monday at his residence here after prolonged illness. He was 80 years old. ( Watch )

Family sources said Tendulkar died at about 8 a.m. He had been unwell for the past two months.

He was suffering from myasthenia gravis-- a muscular disorder -- and had been admitted to a city hospital a few weeks back.

"He slipped into coma on Sunday and never regained consciousness," Dr Shirish Prayag, who was treating him, said.

A large number of theatre and film personalities, including Amol Palekar and Lalan Sarang, visited the hospital to pay their last respect to the author.

The Mumbai-based author, also father of the late actress Priya Tendulkar, is survived by two daughters-- Sushma and Tanjua-- who were at his bedside when he breathed his last.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, Tendulkar was best known for his plays Ghashiram Kotwal and Sakharam Binder. He was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

In 1977, Tendulkar won the National Film Award for his screenplay of Shyam Benegal's movie Manthan . He also wrote the screenplays for other critically acclaimed films like Nishant , Akrosh and Ardh Satya.