New Delhi: Remember the affable Suman in the 1971 blockbuster Anand? Veteran actress Seema Deo, who played that part, died on Thursday at the age of 83. The wife of actor Ramesh Deo, she was battling Alzheimer’s. Among the most respected actresses in Marathi cinema, Seema Deo appeared in Bollywood films such as Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan’s Anand, Jaya Bachchan and Vijay Anand’s Kora Kagaz and Jaya Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar’s film Koshish. Her son, filmmaker Abhinay Deo confirmed the news of her death.
Speaking with Indian Express, Abhinay said, “Mom passed away earlier today. She was fine, she was suffering from Alzheimer’s, but otherwise she was fine.” He had first opened up about Seema’s Alzheimer’s in 2020. Taking to X, previously known as Twitter, Abhinay said, “My mother Shrimati Seema Deo, doyen of Marathi film industry, is suffering from Alzheimer’s. We, the entire Deo family, have been praying for her well being, wish whole of Maharashtra who loved her so much also pray for her well being.”
Seema Deo is survived by her sons Ajinkya and Abhinay Deo, who is known for directing films such as “Delhi Belly” and “Force”. Ajinkya is also a well-known actor in the Hindi and Marathi film industries.
Seema had acted in over 80 films. Some of her notable works include Jagachya Pathivar and Vardakshina. She was last seen in the 2021 Marathi movie Jivan Sandhya. Speaking about his parents in 2018, Abhinay Deo told the Times of India in an interview, “My parents even then were not as social I believe. The house was always kept away and sacred in a way. We ourselves were never used to being considered as star kids of Ramesh and Seema Deo. We were consciously enrolled into a school which was Hindi, Marathi and English medium. Though we studied in English medium, equal amount of weightage was given to Hindi and Marathi. It was a simple school which was academically driven. They could have easily put us in a Bombay Scottish. But they deliberately put us in a school, where we studied with the common children, who hailed from middle-class families. Despite the stardom they are grounded and ensured we stay the same, too.”
