Kavita Chaudhary, star of Doordarshan's Udaan and 'Lalitaji' of Surf ad, dies post cardiac arrest

Actress Kavita Chaudhary in Udaan. Photo: X

Actress Kavita Chaudhary, star of the popular Doordarshan serial 'Udaan', died at a hospital in Amritsar following a cardiac arrest on Thursday night. She was 67.

The actor, also popular as the homemaker Lalita ji in the Surf detergent commercials in India in the late 1980s, was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. "She passed away following cardiac arrest last night around 8.30 pm in Amritsar at the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital a few days ago due to low blood pressure. Her condition became critical later," Ajay Sayal, Chaudhary's nephew, told PTI.

The last rites were held in Amritsar on Thursday morning. The actor is survived by Sayal and her niece.

Suchitra Verma, Kavita's mentee and a close friend, shared that the actor had been suffering from cancer for a few years. When they met last year, Kavita had even informed her about chemotherapy and looked "visibly in pain". "I feel miserable to have lost her and never got a chance to meet her. I never knew her condition would deteriorate so much suddenly," Suchitra told IndiaToday.in.

Chaudhary was best known for her portrayal of IPS officer Kalyani Singh in "Udaan" a progressive show about women empowerment, which ran on Doordarshan between 1989 and 1991.

Besides starring, she wrote and directed the serial, which was inspired by the life of her elder sister and police officer Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya.

"Udaan", which also starred Shekhar Kapur, revolved around the struggle of a woman aspiring to be an IPS officer. The critically acclaimed show, which inspired a generation of women to pursue public service, was brought back on Doordarshan for a re-run during the pandemic. Smriti Irani had shared the news of the show's re-run and wrritten, "For some it was just a serial, for me it was a call to free myself from situations I deemed impossible to overcome (sic)."

Actor Amit Behl was one of the colleagues who paid condolences on Chaudhary's demise. "RIP Kavita Chaudhary, is baar aapne lambi udaan bhar li,Naman @CintaaOfficial @nsd_india," he wrote on X.

Later, Chaudhary produced Doordarshan shows "Your Honour" and "IPS Diaries".