New Delhi: Veteran actress, showbiz personality and one of the pioneers of television content, Manju Singh has passed away following an illness, her family said here on Saturday.
The family said that he passed away in Mumbai on Thursday.
“With profound sadness, we inform you about the passing of our Manju Singh. She lived a beautiful and inspiring life, devoted to her family and her craft. From ‘Manju Didi’ to ‘Manju Nani’ she truly Everyone will be missed,” the family said in a brief media announcement, without further details.
One of the pioneers of the TV industry in the early 1980s, Singh made his debut on the small screen with the first sponsored program ‘Show Theme’.
He later produced several memorable television programs for Doordarshan in the early era of color broadcasting, ranging from serials, children’s shows, spiritual to activism and other meaningful topics.
Some of them included ‘Ek Kahani’, ‘Swaraj’, ‘Adhikar’ and anchored the children’s show ‘Khel Khiladi’ which was one of the longest running shows at that time.
Singh also acted in a few Hindi films, most notably in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s rib-tickling award-winning comedy ‘Golmaal’ and ‘Hanky Panky’ (both) as the lead role of Ratna Sharma, sister of Ramprasad D Sharma (Amol Palekar). worked in , 1979), ‘Ladies Taylor’ (1981), ‘Screen Two’ (1985), ‘Sister’ to ‘Granny’ easily adapts to character roles.
Later, in 2007, he founded the WorldKids Foundation with the motto ‘Entertainment with a Purpose’, which organizes global children’s film festivals, and delivers educational films to classrooms.
Recognizing his contributions to TV, films, creative arts and academia, the government named Singh as a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in 2015.
Several stalwarts of the Indian TV and film industry have mourned the death of Manju Singh, including one of her early collaborators, lyricist-singer-writer Swanand Kirkire.