How Vikram Gokhale's Grandmother, Great-Grandmother Became Trailblazer Artists

Notable Indian actor and stage performer Vikram Gokhale passed away at a Pune hospital on 26 November.  Gokhale had been putting up a brave fight while on a ventilator after a multiple organ failure. He is survived by his spouse, Vrushali Gokhale and his two children. The 82-year-old actor who has made his mark in both Marathi and Hindi film industries holds a significant performance record. He is popularly known for his performances in films like Agneepath (1990) and the popular blockbuster Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Vikram Gokhale, who has made an outstanding contribution to cinema and theatre, comes from a great lineage of artists as his mother and grandmother and great-grandmother have both been trailblazers in the film industry during their respective eras. Here's a look at the women in Vikram Gokhale's life who have contributed to the artist and family man he is today.

Suggested Reading: Durgabai Kamat: The First Actress Of Indian Cinema Was Also a Single Mother

The women that inspired Vikram Gokhale

Great Grandmother Durgabai Kamat

Gokhale’s great-grandmother, Durgabai Kamat, was a trailblazer in more ways than one. She was the first Marathi female actor to have acted in the Hindi film industry. Born in a brahmin family in 1879, at a time when women dreaming of becoming actors was taboo in itself, Durgabai Kamat went above and beyond and acted in Dadasaheb Phalke’s film Mohini Bhasmasur in 1913 as a lead female actor.  She passed in Pune in 1997. Durgabai Kamat was also a single mother who paved way for more women to shatter patriarchal norms and love life on their own terms.

Grandmother Kamlabai Kamat

Kamlabai Kamat was born to actor Durgabai Kamat and professor Anand Nanoskar in 1900. Kamlabai’s first stage appearance happened when she was just a  four-year-old child. She was a trailblazer in her way as she became the first female actor to act as a child artist. She worked in Dadashaebl Phalke’s film Mohini Bhasmasur as a child artist, in which her mother Durgabai Kamat played the lead role of Parvati. By the time Kamblabai turned a teenager, she was already a known face and a celebrity in he own right. She worked in about 35 films; the 1980 film Gehrayee was her last. She married Raghunathrao Gokhale and gave birth to three sons, one of whom was Chandrakanth Gokhale, father of Vikram Gokhale.

Spouse Vrushali Gokhale

Vikram Gokhale and his spouse Vrushali Gokhale had been married for several years. The two made several appearances together during award shows. While Vrushali Gokhale does not hold any connection to the world of cinema, she had actively been involved in Vikram Gokhale’s career and his professional outings.

After his hospitalisation, she released a statement in the media saying that the actor was currently in the ICU, battling multiple organ failure and the family was hoping he will pull through.