Kishore Pradhan was an Indian actor, who predominantly worked in Marathi cinema and Bollywood. He is best remembered for his comic roles in Bollywood hits like Jab We Met and Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
Biography/Wiki
Kishore Pradhan was born on 1 November 1932 (age 86; at the time of death) in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. He was born into a rich family and had a liberal upbringing; as his family always supported his love for art alongside his studies. As a school-going kid, he used to watch a lot of theatre rehearsals. He took his little interest one step forward by starting working as a child artist in plays and radio. He also used to participate in theatre plays of eminent Marathi playwrite and director, Purushottam Darwhekar.
He started his theatre career from Nagpur during his graduation days; as he used to actively take part in college festivals. After his graduation, when he came to Mumbai, he joined Glaxo Laboratories. His work-life didn’t hamper his interest in theatre; as he started his own theatre group, Natraj.
He was also associated with Doordarshan since the channel’s inception in 1972. In the TV world, he is best remembered for co-anchoring the show, Gajra, along with his wife, Shobha.
In 1987, he decided to quit Marathi plays due to his hectic work schedule. After working for more than 25 years at various managerial designations, he took his retirement in 1994. From then on, he devoted all his time in theatre and acting. He was also a familiar face in the ad world and was a character model for more than 15 years.
Family & Wife
Kisore was born into an upper-middle-class Marathi entrepreneurial family. His father, Amrutrao Pradhan aka Kakasaheb, was an notable pharmacist and owner of a Nagpur-based pharmacy company, Amrut Pharmacy. His mother, Malati Amrut Pradhan, was a renowned theatre actor and playwrite. He was married to Shobha Pradhan.
Kishore Pradhan with his wife
Career
Apart from an early interest in acting, he was good at academics as well. He did his schooling from Nagpur and his graduation in M. A. (Economics) from Morris College in Nagpur. After the completion of his graduation, he worked as a Research Scholar in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. After the completion of his training, he started working for GlaxoSmithKline (the then Glaxo Laboratories), one of the oldest MNCs in India. Alongside his job, he continued to do theatre. His breakthrough as a theatre artist came in 1970 with his debut play, Kaka Kishacha. After a career span of more than 25 years, he left his managerial job in 1994; mainly to continue his works in the field of acting. Apart from doing more than 100 Marathi theatre plays, and 18 English plays, he also made appearances in Marathi, Hindi and English films. His roles in Jab We Met with Kareena Kapoor, Lage Raho Munnabhai with Sanjay Dutt, and Me Shivaji  Raje Bhosle Boltoy with Sachin Khedekar were some of his most famous works.
Death
He took his last breath on 11 January 2019 in Mumbai. The reason behind his death has yet not known. He was last seen in Marathi film, Shubh Lagna Saavdhaan (2018).