Veteran actor Ramesh Deo dies of heart attack at 93

Veteran actor Ramesh Deo died on Wednesday following a heart attack at the age of 93, his filmmaker son Abhinay Deo said. “He passed away due to a heart attack around 8.30 PM tonight at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. He was 93,” Abhinay Deo told PTI.

Ramesh featured in more than 250 Hindi films and nearly 200 Marathi movies in his career spanning 60 years. He is known for films such as Anand and Aap Ki Kasam in Hindi cinema and his extensive work in the Marathi film industry,

The actor was known for his unassuming screen presence, playing varied roles–from friendly doctor, menacing villain to a loveable family friend. He brought on-screen with him his affable trademark moustache and smile, which would either charm the audience or instill fear, depending on the role he played.

In the mid-60s, he turned towards Hindi cinema. He largely appeared as a character actor playing both positive and negative parts, including Aarti, Anand, Aap Ki Kasam, Mere Apne, Jeevan Mrityu, Saraswatichandra, Teen Bahuraniyan, Khilona, Ghayal Once Again, Jolly LLB, among others.

The actor straddled several movie eras with ease, from Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan. In filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1971 classic Anand, Ramesh played Dr Prakash Kulkarni, featuring alongside his actor wife Seema Deo. The couple played on-screen pair in the film.

Ramesh was also a TV veteran, having featured in over 30 Marathi dramas. As an artist, he wasn’t limited to just acting as he also produced feature films, turned a director, backed TV serials and over 250 ad films.

Born in Amravati, Maharashtra, Ramesh Deo, made his debut in a cameo appearance in the 1951 Marathi film Paatlaachi Por. His first full-fledged role came in the Marathi movie Andhala Magto Ek Dola (1956), directed by Raja Paranjape.

Though his work eventually slowed down in the 90s, he even went on to work with new-age stars in films like Jolly LLB with Akshay Kumar and Sunny Deol starrer Ghayal Once Again, which marked his last big-screen appearance in 2016.

He is survived by his wife a veteran actor Seema Deo and two sons Ajinkya Deo, a Marathi actor and Abhinay Deo, a film director. Abhinay is best known for Delhi Belly.