Veteran Kannada actor TS Lohithaswa passes away

BENGALURU: Veteran Kannada actor, theatre activist and writer TS Lohithaswa passed away on Tuesday in Bengaluru.
The 80-year-old actor was admitted to a private hospital in South Bengaluru a few days ago due to an age-related illness.
However, the senior actor failed to respond to the treatment and died on Tuesday afternoon. He is survived by his wife and three children including popular Sandalwood and television actor Sharat Lohitashwa.
Known for his sonorous and dominating voice, Lohithaswa became a household name in the 90s while alternating between Kannada theatre and the silver screen.
Working as a professor of English for over 30 years, Lohithaswa rose to prominence with his on-screen presence.
Hailing from Tondegere in Tumakuru district, Lohithaswa shared space with several leading heroes of Sandalwood such as Dr Raj Kumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Shivarajkumar and won accolades for his supporting roles as well as villainous roles. He had also donned the role of chief minister in several of his movies.
Some of the notable films of Lohitashwa include SP Sangliana, Lock-up Death, Snehaloka, Abhimanyu, Simhada Mari, Sarathi, and AK-47. Acting in more than 500 films in a span of three decades, Lohithaswa was also featured in television serials such as Malgudi Days by Shankar Nag, Grihabhanga by Girish Kasaravalli and Natyarani Shakuntala by GV Iyer. “He was admitted to the hospital after he was diagnosed with a small infection. When we were hoping that he would be back soon, he suffered a heart attack,” said an artist close to the family.
Of late the actor had stayed away from the silver screen and was staying in his village. Sources close to the family revealed that the actor’s body will be kept at his residence in Kumaraswamy Layout for people to pay homage until late at night and subsequently taken to his native village for the last rites on Wednesday. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, KPCC President DK Shivakumar, former CM HD Kumaraswamy and several prominent celebrities from Sandalwood mourned the death of Lohithaswa.