Padma Shri dance historian Sunil Kothari passes away, had tested positive for COVID-19 a month ago

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 27

Padma Shri dance historian and critic Sunil Kothari passed away on Sunday morning at Fortis in New Delhi after he suffered a cardiac arrest a month after testing positive for coronavirus.

He was 87.

Kothari, who is residing in the Asiad Village, is currently facing government’s eviction notice to vacate the house allotted to him under the eminent artistes’ category. The eviction deadline December 31, 2020.

Hailing from Baroda, Kothari took to dancing in the 1940s.

He studied chartered accountancy, but could never stay off the dance circuit and was eventually pulled into it by the legendary Mulk Raj Anand, the editor of the art magazine “Marg.”

It was Anand who first invited Kothari to edit an issue on Chhau among other masked dances of India.

The edition was published in 1968 and there was no looking back since.

Kothari, who struggled to pursue his passion, went on to pen more than 15 books on art and dance and was currently working on his autobiography.

His latest work to be published was the “Sattriya Dances of Assam” in 2013.

"Kothari was single and is not survived by any immediate family", said Kathak dancer, Geetanjali Lal, who took care of him in his last days.

Lal, also a resident of Asiad Village, said Kothari had contracted COVID-19 and recovered, but he could not fight fitfully.

“He was in and out of the hospital over the past few days. He was also out a lot lately to complete the formalities of evicting the house he had been allotted under the eminent artiste quota. He has no immediate family and would eat with us often. It’s a great loss to the world of art and culture,” said Lal.

Leading dancer Pratibha Prahlad remembered Kothari saying, “We lived, laughed and cried together. We fought vehemently. But through it all, we chew it up and spit it out. Now that he is gone, the dance world that he loved so much will have a void that would be impossible to fill.”

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