Writer, director, actor Ashok Patole is no more. He died today morning in Pune, after he succumbed to sudden ailment. His last wish was that he should neither be cremated nor any last rites be performed on his body after his death. Accordingly, after his death today morning , the concerned hospital took away his body, as per his wish for organ donations.

Ashok Patole was a banker who worked in Reserve Bank of India for many years, before he opted for voluntary retirement in 1993 to concentrate on creative writing. By then, he had made a name for himself, in the field of writing. Starting with short stories, he successfully wrote some one-act plays which fetched awards at various drama competitions. ‘Hasrate’ a hindi serial on TV brought him to the limelight.  Marathi play ‘Aai Retire Hotey’ written by him was one of the favourite plays, in which late Bhakti Barve had performed.

After writing scripts, screenplay, dialogues for many TV serials and films, he got embroiled in controversy for his play, ‘Ek Chavat Sandhyakal’, for its content . He had also written the screenplay of Mahesh Kothare’s film ‘Zapatlela-2′ released 2 years ago.

Ashok Patole’s sad demise leaves a big vacuum in Marathi film, TV and stage industry . MMW joins his bereaved family with condolences.