Kannada actor Edakallu Chandrashekhar (Chandru) passes away

Sandalwood has lost one more celebrity in less than 10 days after Kashinath. Chandrashekhar aka Chandru of Edakallu Guddada Mele fame passed away in Canada on January 27. He is survived by his wife Sheela and daughter Tanya.

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His daughter confirmed the news stating that her father suffered a massive heart attack in the wee hours of Saturday. "Yesterday night I spoke to him when he was shifted to a hospital. He only said he had a slight pain, but I got a call at around 3:30 am saying he passed away," The Hindu quotes her as saying to the media. 

Born in a middle-class family to Shiva Swamy and Rathna, Chandrashekhar was associated with acting since his childhood. He used to do mono-acting and take part in stage plays.

Chandrashekhar was spotted by the late Nagendra Rao and Vadiraj and was cast as a child artiste in their Kannada movie 1969 Namma Makkalu. The film ran for over 36 weeks at a leading single-screen theatre in Bengaluru. His performance was noticed by filmmakers in his debut film and offers started coming his way.

He acted in a supporting role in BV Karanth and Girish Karnad's National Award-winning movie Vamsha Vriksha. In 1973, Chandrashekhar was introduced as a hero by legendary filmmaker Puttanna Kanagal in Edakallu Guddada Mele.

The success of the film was such that "Edakallu" became his first name. Thereafter, Chandrashekhar worked in several movies, including Sampathige Saval, Hamsageethe, Raja Nanna Raja, Maagiya Kanasu and Shankar Guru.

After his marriage, Chandrashekhar moved to Canada and started working with the Indian High Commission as a visa officer.

Nonetheless, his association with Kannada films never ended: He was taking out time to work in Sandalwood at every given opportunity.

He turned director with Poorva Para, which was the first Kannada movie to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival. The film was screened in many other foreign countries, including Australia.

In his career, he worked in over 60 movies and was last seen in the recently-released 3 Gante 30 Dina 30 Second.