Court actor Vira Sathidar has died due to Covid-19 related complications on Tuesday. The 62-year-old actor-activist was admitted to a hospital in Nagpur where he breathed his last early morning on Tuesday.
His son Rahul told, “He was admitted to AIIMS for Covid-19 treatment. He had developed pneumonia and died around 4 am on Tuesday after developing complications.” Sathidar, whose original name was Vipul Vairagade, used to herd cows as a child in a village in Wardha district.
He had started writing poetry and became an activist associated with Dalit Panthers in particular and Ambedkarite movement in general. He has also acted in few other Marathi films but Court remains his outstanding work. The winner of a National Award was also India’s entry to Oscar awards in 2016.
His long-time associate Mukund Adewar said that the activist was currently working on a documentary titled ‘Aadhaa Chaand Tum Rakhlo’.
Music director Sambhaji Bhagat who has closely worked with Sathidar confirmed the news and said, “Vira was admitted to a hospital in Nagpur from a few days and was on a ventilator for the last two days. His death has pained me a lot, we will not only miss him as a talented actor but also a beautiful human being.”
Writer and director of Court, Chaitanya Tamhane, told indianexpress.com, “Right now I am shocked and totally speechless. He was one of the nicest people I have met and we were blessed to have him as the face of Court. I am still processing the news, it is just extremely sad.” The court is a Marathi language legal drama where Sathidar played the role of a teacher and a protest poet, Narayan Kamble.
