K.
Vaikunth passes away
Sandesh Prabhudesai
9 February 2003
K
Vaikunth, one of the legendary of the Bollywood sine late
'50s, breathed his last in his hometown of Margao, here in
Goa, on Friday early morning.
Known as Vaikunthdada in the Hindi film industry, he was
bedridden for over a month. He was 77.
No celebrities or his colleagues from the Bollywood attended
the funeral, though it was delayed by a day. Goans, including
chief minister Manohar Parrikar and even industrialists, however
paid tributes to the veteran, who Goans were proud of.
Four-time Filmfare award winner and even recipient of a Presidential
award, Vaikunth Dattaram Kunkolienkar made a niche in the
Hindi film industry by shooting memorable box-hits like Seeta
Aur Geeta, Andaz, Geet, Heera Moti and many more, directed
by Ramesh Sippy, Shakti Samanta, Vishram Bedekar and even
Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
Among the 82 films he played wonders with his camera, Vaikunthdada
was also a favourite of directors like Guljar, adding his
own artistic flavour to his semi-art films like Parichay,
Koshish, Mausam, Achanak and even Aandhi.
After getting familiarised with the box camera under Venkatesh
Angle and Vasant Joshi here in Goa, this budding litterateur
and equally a good painter left for Mumbai at the age of 16,
in the early '40s, to work under then famous cinematographer
Surendra Poi, a Goan by origin, at Raneet Studio.
While struggling hard against the odds in the 'black and
white' era, he also got an opportunity to work under Pandurang
Naik, a cinematographer of international repute. K Vaikunth
however actually became a synonymous with the Hindi film industry
with Eastmancolour hitting the silver screen.
Taking a break in 1996, almost after 50 years, K Vaikunth
came back to his hometown in Margao, to spend rest of his
life peacefully at his ancestral house, with his children
and grandchildren. He is survived by wife Chaaya and two sons
- Amit as well as Aatish, an upcoming cinematographer in the
TV world of Mumbai today.
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