Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 19, 2017)

It was a dark afternoon at Oshiwara crematorium on Thursday even though the sun shone bright. Friends and colleagues from the Hindi and Marathi film industries turned up for Reema Lagoo's last rites. Sulabha Arya, Raj Zutshi and Kajol were amongst the first to reach. Vinay Patkar, Mohan Joshi, Raza Murad, Rakesh Bedi, Ramesh Bhatkar, Anang Desai, Ashoke Pandit, her co-stars from her TV show, Naamkarann, Shruti Ulfat, Viraf Patel and Kunwar Amar, were also present.

Rites began at 2.30 pm. Reema's ex-husband, Marathi actor Vivek Lagoo was supervising arrangements while their daughter, Mrunmayee, looked on teary-eyed. Filmmaker Swapna Waghmare Joshi spoke of their two-decade association.“She had acted in my earliest TV serial, Ahankaar. Now, I'm adapting the play Savita Damodar Paranjpe, which Reema immortalised, as a Marathi film. She had been an elder sister who guided and supported me and yet was a total brat,“ reminisces Swapna.

Sulbha Arya worked with Reema in Prem Granth and Kal Ho Na Ho, but since they were both stage artists, she knew her well. “She was one of the most popular mothers on screen. With her gone, all her kids must feel orphaned,“ she says.
----------------------
Rupsa Chakraborty (MID-DAY; May 19, 2017)

The film industry is yet to recover from the shock of actor Vinod Khanna’s demise last month, and there poured in another sad news. Last morning, veteran stage, film and television actor Reema Lagoo succumbed to a heart attack that she suffered post Wednesday midnight, say sources. She was rushed to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri.

Her son-in-law, Vinay Waikul said she was taken to the hospital after she complained of chest pain at around 1 am. “She was immediately rushed to the ICU, but she breathed her last at around 3.10 am,” said a doctor from the hospital. Waikul added that Lagoo “was perfectly fine and had no health issues”. Lagoo acted in several Marathi and Hindi films, besides doing a number of hit television shows.

She was born Gurinder Bhadbhade in 1958. Her mother, actress Mandakini Bhadbhade, was known for the hit Marathi drama, Lekure Udand Jhali. Lagoo realised her gift for acting as a student in Pune. She took it up professionally after finishing high school. She took the name Reema Lagoo after marrying Marathi actor Vivek Lagoo, who she separated from a few years later. She is survived by daughter Mrunmayee, also a theatre and film actress and director.

At her last rites yesterday, top names from Bollywood as well as Marathi cinema assembled at Shastri Nagar, Andheri to pay respects to their favourite ‘Maa’.