Udaan actor Kavita Chaudhary, India’s beloved ‘Lalitaji’, dies of heart attack | Bollywood News

“She had cancer a few years ago, we also met after that, but she wanted to keep it private, so we never talked about it. She was originally from Amritsar and died there. I spoke to her about a fortnight ago when she was in Mumbai and was not feeling very well. Kavita’s nephew informed me of her death this morning.”

Kavita Chaudhary in a still from Udaan. (photo: Express Files)

Udaan aired in 1989 and in the show, Kavita played the role of Kalyani Singh, an IPS officer. She also wrote and directed the show, which was based on the life of her sister Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, who became the second IPS officer after Kiran Bedi.

At the time, Kavita was hailed as an icon of female empowerment as there was not much representation of women IPS officers in films and television. Later in her career, Kavita produced shows like Your Honor and IPS Diaries.

Kavita was also known for playing Lalitaji in the famous Surf advertisements of the 1980s and 1990s. Here she played a smart housewife who is judicious when she spends her money and always makes the right decision. Talking about her character in the ads, she told The Quint: “Lalita ji was a no-nonsense (character) which was not my personality, but I just felt like I could understand her tone. She trusted the actor’s understanding.”

Udaan was broadcast on Doordarshan during the pandemic. At that time, Smriti Irani said: “For some it was just a series, for me it was a call to free myself from situations that I considered impossible to overcome.”