Departures of note

Madhu Kambikar was an Indian performing folk art artist, theatre actor, and film and television personality from Maharashtra. Born in Malegaon in the Beed district, she came from the Kolhati performing community and began performing at a very young age, following her father, also a performing artist, to shows. She went on to establish herself as one of the leading actresses of Marathi cinema in the 1980s, known especially for her rural, folk-rooted roles. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she worked in over 75 films and appeared in about a dozen folk plays and more than twenty contemporary plays. Her notable film credits included Shapit, Hech Maze Maher, Raosahab, Bin Kamacha Navra, Ek Hota Vidushak, and the cult horror comedy Zapatlela and its sequel. She received a Filmfare Marathi Award for Best Actress for Shapit and six Maharashtra State Film Awards, including Best Actress honours, and was later honoured with the Zee Chitra Gaurav Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. In 2016 she collapsed on stage during a lavani-tamasha performance and became bedridden after suffering a stroke. She died on 12 October 2026 in Pune at the age of 73.