Bal Karve will be remembered forever as ‘Gundyabhau’! With Dilip Prabhavalkar as Chimanrao, in the TV sitcom ‘Chimanrao Gundyabhau’ on Mumbai doordarshan he became a household name.
If we compare them to the iconic pair of ‘Laurel & Hardy’ this was our own ‘desi’ pair from a household members residing next door!
For years I did not know his real name. The reel name just stuck with him.
He was part of the original play ‘Suryachi Pille’ 1978 directed by Damu Kenkre. Along with Madhav Vatve, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Mohan Gokhale, Sadashiv Amrapurkar & Shanta Jog. Of the cast most had an early exit.
Bal Karve born on 25 August 1930 was an engineer & an actor. He is known for his roles in Marathi language films, TV & theatre. Active from 1977 to 2009.
His films ‘Banyabapu’ 1978, ‘Chatak Chandani’ 1982, ‘Godi Gulabi’ 1991, ‘Lapandav’ 1993 speak of his talent. Not the lead yet he made his presence felt.
He received the Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar at Zee Natya Gaurav awards in 2018. He died in Mumbai on 28 August 2025, three days after his 95th birthday.
The body of work does not showcase his talent to the full.
One less from the ‘august’ company of stars !
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