Credit: Special arrangement.
Dharwad: Veteran theatre actor and comedian and Dharwad Rangayana director Rajesab (Raju) Talikoti died of heart attack at the KMC Hospital at Manipal in Udupi on Monday evening.
He was 60 and is survived by actor-wife Prema, two sons and three daughters.
Raju was in Mangaluru for the shooting of a film. He suffered a heart attack on Sunday evening and was immediately shifted to the hospital.
He didn’t respond to treatment and passed away on Monday evening, said his son Bharat.
The last rites will be performed at Chikkasindgi in Sindgi taluk of Vijayapura district, according to family sources.
Raju joined the theater as a child artiste at the age of seven through Khasgateshwar Natya Sangha owned by his father Maktumsab Yenkanchi (Talikoti).
He has played several roles in various dramas besides having worked as a comedian in over 35 Kannada movies.
His role as a drunkard in the audio cassette ‘Kaliyugada Kuduka’ has been very popular and the same play has been staged for over 40,000 times across the world.
He has been honoured with several prestigious awards, including Karnataka Rajyotsava award.
Recognising his service to the theatre field for over four decades, the government had appointed him as the director of Dharwad Rangayana in August last year.