Sandalwood celebrities mourn the death of Hulivana Gangadharaiah

Veteran actor Hulivana Gangadharaiah

passed away due to COVID-19 at a private hospital in the city on Friday night. According to reports, after he showed symptoms, the actor self-isolated at his farm house. But when his health condition deteriorated, he was admitted to a hospital.

Gangadharaiah has acted in over 100 films, 150 plays and

many serials

. The 70-year-old was part of the ongoing serial Premaloka, which has Vijay Suriya and

Ankitha Navya Gowda

in lead roles.

Mourning the veteran's death, Vijay Suriya says, “We shot together in the last week of June. He was full of energy and enthusiasm and never liked to sit idle. He is an inspiration to any young actor. Despite his age, he was also actively involved in agriculture and used to tell me how everyone can be involved in agriculture. It is sad to know that he is no more.”

Remembering the actor, Shubha Poonja who worked with him in the movie Naragunda Bandaya, says, "He was a wonderful human being. On set, he used to share with us his experience of working on all three entertainment mediums. It was like a learning curve for us."

Director T N Seetharam, on his Facebook page posted, “The death of a friend and a wonderful actor Hulivana Gangadharaiah is painful...In the modern theatre, Nagesh whom I consider as Guru used to cast Gangadharaiah in each play he directed which reflected the kind of faith he had in him. After a few years, he got involved in agriculture so I did not had much contact with him. It’s been nearly eight years since I last met him. It is very sad that we have lost him. (Sic)”