Pune's Wadekar, co-creator of Chintoo, no more

Prabhakar Wadekar (56), co-creator of Chintoo, the highly popular cartoon strip in Marathi and a versatile theatre personality, passed away after suffering brain haemorrhage here on Saturday. The last rites were performed at Vaikunth crematorium on Saturday night. Having no known history of neurological problems, Prabhakar’s sudden exit shocked theatre circles.

He is survived by wife and two daughters, one of whom is married.

Prabhakar studied at Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NuMaVi). He was a good athlete. He created waves while studying at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) with his plays in the inter-collegiate competition.

Prabhakar worked with Tarun Bharat, Loksatta and Indian Express with the marketing department and wrote a column for Loksatta on eateries in Pune. He worked for Samarth Vyaspeeth for 25 years.

Prabhakar worked for Samarth Vyaspeeth to propagate the thoughts of the 17th Century poet-saint Ramdas.

He came into the limelight when he presented his play Artha Kaay Ya Benbeicha Vishwachakri that won the prestigious Purushottam Karandak intercollegiate one-act play competition. His play had visionary thoughts and organisers like Late Rajabhau Natu were sceptical while publishing the title and gist of the play in the special issue of the competition.

Two plays written by him, Manthan and Ondaka, were widely appreciated and are still remembered today. Inspired by his guru in theatre, Anant Kanho, Prabhakar joined Droppers, the theatre group in the 1970s. He was active in intercollegiate competitions between 1972 and 1977. During this time he met Chitra Devbhankar, his life partner, who won the best actress award for the play Sunila Parname Shalela Chalali Hoti.

Prabhakar’s first play with Droppers was Kosalala Aaj Ithe Devhara, Arthaat Melo Melo Melo Drama that was penned by Mukund Taksale. After Droppers broke up, he started joined Naveen. He acted in or penned plays like Cinema Cinema, Nat, Mhataricha Kaal and directed Sudhir Moghe’s programme Padchhaya based on Sahir Ludhiyanavi’s Parchhaiyaan. In plays like Gammat Jammat, Prabhakar exhibited his acting talent. Kranti was another of his noted plays and his lead role of Balu in the TV serial Ithe Nandato Balu was also appreciated by a large audience.