The demise of veteran actor Atul Parchure at 57, after a long battle with cancer, has left a void in the Marathi film industry.
Since the news of his passing, friends, family, and colleagues have been sharing their grief and paying tribute to the beloved actor. Among those mourning his demise, is former co-star Milind Gawali. Taking to his Instagram handle, Milind posted a picture of the late Atul Parchure and wrote, “Yaaro ka yaar Atul Parchure, till date I never called him by name Atul, I always called him incredible, and he used to call me “Bol Mitra”, He left all of us yesterday, he was a fighter, he came back after fighting to the death, he fought a lot but in the end it is true what they say, ‘destiny is no one’s business’.”
Milind further recalled, “In 1997, Atul and I worked together in VK Naik‘s film ‘Soon Ladki Sasarchi’.We stayed together for almost 50 days in a room in Pune’s Gwalior Palace. At that time he was doing a play ‘Vyakti Aani Valli’ as P. L. Deshpande. He was so talented that PL Deshpande himself chose Atul. The shooting days of that film with Atul are unforgettable, 27 years have passed since this film, but we never worked together after that. The love and respect for each other remained constant, in between he would call me and compliment me every now and then.”
“Atul was very intelligent, stubborn and optimistic. It still doesn’t feel true that you’ve left. He fought hard against his illness, fought hard,
But today left a huge void, Atul is no longer with us, or we will never be able to talk to him now. When people like Atul leave us, it is not only a loss to the family, friends, but also a great loss to the society and the art field. Atul will always have a special place in my heart, even though he is no longer with us physically, he will always be alive in our hearts as a great artist and a true friend. May God give strength to his family and his many friends to bear this loss.” Milind concluded.
Atul Parachure’s last rites and funeral was held on Tuesday, October 15, at 11 am at the Shivaji Park Crematorium. The funeral ceremony saw numerous celebrities from the film industry in attendance to bid him a final farewell. Among those who paid their last respects were Mahesh Manjrekar, Shreyas Talpade, Sachin Khedekar, Suchitra Bandekar, and Nivedita Saraf. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Shrikant Thackeray also arrived for Antim Darshan.
