Looking back at how actress Sulochana Latkar got her stage name – Exclusive | Hindi Movie News

Actress Sulochana Latkar passed away at the age of 94 in a hospital in Mumbai. She had been suffering from respiratory problems. One of her close associates, film historian and critic Dilip Thakur is shattered by the news of her passing. Controlling his emotions, he spoke to ETimes on the phone and revealed certain unknown aspects of Sulochana’s career. In Thakur’s own words…

Taking up the stage name of Sulochana

Her original name was Rangu Diwan. She was born in a village near Kolhapur. Her journey in films started as a negligible extra. She played such inconsequential roles in director Bhalji Pendharkar’s films like ‘Maharathi Karna’ and ‘Valmiki‘. But in the year 1949, while playing a role in ‘Sasurvas’, Bhalji Pendharkar gave her the name ‘Sulochana’.

The ‘Sulochana’ connection

Why did he do that? The original Sulochana of Indian films, aka Ruby Myers, had played a role in Bhalji Pendharkar’s silent film ‘Bajbahdur’ i.e. ‘Rani Rupmati’. Since then Bhalji Pendharkar liked the name ‘Sulochana’ very much and he had given that name ‘Sulochana’ to new actresses in his talkie films. This happened two or three times. But those actresses didn’t get a successful run. But he achieved success with Rangu Divan when he named her Sulochana. And then the name became so popular that Sulochana became known as a symbol of the Marathi films’ sophistication.

Humble beginnings

In the early days of her career, Sulochana Didi played the role of a junior artist or an extra. In 1943, she started her career playing such roles in Master Vinayak’s ‘Chimukla Sansar’ followed by a few more Marathi films. She also got such roles with no dialogue in a Tamil film that was produced in Kolhapur at that time. Despite getting negligible roles at the start of her career, the kind of leap she took in her journey is simply remarkable.