Theatre veteran and adman Alyque Padamsee dead at 90

Prominent adman and theatre artiste Alyque Padamsee passed away in Mumbai today. He was 90 years old.

The veteran theatre actor, director, and producer had been ailing for the last few months due to age-related illnesses. He passed away early on Saturday morning. 

An actor, theatre director, and advertising professional for several years, Padamsee was best known for his role as Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the biopic, Gandhi (1982). 

Born to a traditional Khoja Muslim family from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, Padamsee began his career as an advertising professional at Lintas India. He was the key to the most prominent campaigns by Lintas for brands like Surf, Liril, Bajaj and MRF in the 1990s. He would go on to become the only Indian to be nominated to the International Clio Hall of Fame, considered to be the Oscars of the advertising industry.

In addition to being in advertising, Padamsee also dabbled in theatre as actor, director and producer. He was prominently known for his English language productions such as Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tughlaq, and Broken Images. 

In 1982, Padamsee was cast in the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough's Academy Award winning film, Gandhi. 

The president of India conferred him with the Padma Shri award in 2000. He was also conferred with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for his contributions to the field of theatre in 2012. 

Padamsee was married thrice to the late Pearl Padamsee, casting director Dolly Thakore and later, actress Sharon Prabhakar. He is survived by four children including Raell Padamsee, Rahul Padamsee, Quasar and Shahzahn Padamsee.