Prabhakar Panshikar (14 March 1931 – 13 January 2011) was an Indian stage

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

. His role as Lakhoba Lokhande in the drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 To Mi Navhech is considered to be one of the most memorable roles presented so far on the Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

 stage. He was also the owner of Natyasampada, the well-known Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

 drama production organisation.

Biography

Panshikar was born into a family of Karhade Brahmin

Karhade Brahmin

Karhade Brahmins are a predominantly Pancha Dravida Brahmins Marathi and Konkani speaking Hindu community in India.-Etymology and Origin:*The name Karháda or Karáda, is the...

 Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 scholars in Phanswadi, Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. The Panshikar are originally from Goa, with their roots in the Panshi village in Pernem Taluka. Initially, Panshikar worked and acted under the guidance of veteran Marathi drama director M.G. Rangnekar. Rangnekar gave him his break in the play To Mi Navhech by offering him the main role in 1962. The show became so popular that it was subsequently translated into other Indian languages like Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

 and Kannada.

Panshikar was married to Vijaya (née Kulkarni), with whom he had three children and seven grand children. His elder daughter, Janhavi Panshikar-Singh, is also a versatile actress. She is married to TV actor Shakti Singh. Panshikar's second child, Ragunandan, was a student of Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar

Kishori AmonkarN- is an Indian singer who performs in the classical genre khyal and the light classical genres thumri and bhajan. Amonkar trained under her mother, classical singer Mogubai Kurdikar of the Jaipur gharana , but experimented with a variety of vocal styles in her career...

. Ragunandan is married to Aparna Deshpande and the couple have two children. Panshikar's youngest child, Tarangini, is a gold medallist in Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

. She is married to marine engineer Narendra Khot. They have two children.

Panshikar died in Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

 on 13 January 2011 from cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...

. His wife spoke out. She told an unknown source, "I wish I could see him again. I miss him. I miss him a lot."

Selected plays

• Bhatala Dili Osari
• To Me Navhech
• Ithe Oshalla Mrutyu
• Ashrunchi Zali Phule
• Thank You Mr.Glad
• Jithe Gavtala Bhale Phuttat

Selected plays as producer

• Sangeet Madanachi Manjiri
• Sangeet Suvarna Tula
• Katyar Kaljat Ghusali
• Andhar Maza Sobati
• Kimayagar
• Putrakameshti
• "Sangeet Awagha Rang Ekachi Zaala"
• "Many Happy Returns (Marathi Play)"
• "Vichcha Majhi Puri Karaa"

Honours and awards

• Vishnudas Bhave Suvarnapadak
• Rajarshee Shahu Suvarnapadak
• Natyagaurav Puraskar
• Sanget Natak Akademi Puraskar
• Natasamrat Bal Gandharva Smriti Puraskar
• Natashreshtha keshavrao Date Puraskar
• Dr.Kashinath Ghanekar Smriti Puraskar
• Natvarya Dattaram Puraskar
• Acharya Atre Puraskar
• Kalashri Puraskar
• Uttung Puraskar
• Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar
• Jagatik Marathi
  Marathi language
  Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
  
  Parishad Puraskar
• Dinanath Mangeshkar Smriti Puraskar
• NatyaDarpan -'Man Of The Year'
• Natasamrat Nanasaheb Phatak Smriti Puraskar
• Navratna Puraskar
• Ratnappa Kumbhar Puraskar
• Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar
• First Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar of State Govt., Maharashtra, later this award was named Prabhakar Panshikar award.