Gujarat: End of the Mahesh-Naresh era

AHMEDABAD: Veteran Gujarati film actor Naresh Kanodia, 77, breathed his last at 9am on Tuesday at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology & Research Centre (UNMICRC) in Ahmedabad. Kanodia was hospitalized for the past six days with Covid-19 infection and other health complications.
A Gujarati film superstar, Kanodia had worked in over 200 films in a career spanning four decades.With his elder brother Mahesh, he also shared film music credit as ‘Mahesh-Naresh’ in a large part of those films. His demise came two days after death of Mahesh Kanodia, 82, on Sunday morning in Gandhinagar.

Hitu Kanodia, the actor’s son and Idar MLA, got emotional while talking to the media outside the hospital. "People often termed them ‘Ram-Lakshman ki Jodi.’ They lived together, stayed together and also died together, proving it right," he said. A video of the duo singing ‘O saathi re, tere bina bhi kya jeena’ recently remained in trending throughout the day.
Naresh and Mahesh Kanodia
The rise of Kanodia brothers, born in Kanoda village near Modhera in Mehsana district, is often compared with fairy tales with their initial struggle both in Gujarat and Mumbai and their eventual stardom that made them household names.
Mahesh-Naresh with Lata Mangeshkar
PM Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences, ‘In a span of two days, we have lost both Maheshbhai and Nareshbhai Kanodia. Their contributions to the world of culture, especially popularising Gujarati songs, music and theatre will never be forgotten. They also worked hard to serve society and empower the downtrodden.’
Brothers with Asha Bhosle
"If we see his contribution to the Gujarati film industry, it’s manifold – he introduced the ‘dancing star’ to the Gujarati films. Earlier heroes couldn’t shake a leg. With brother Mahesh, he also produced many films and contributed to the music," said Kartikeya Bhatt, a city-based Gujarati film historian. "Few might know, but he had also acted in a Hindi film Chhota Aadmi. He and Mahesh Kanodia struggled in Mumbai in 1960s after their very successful orchestra performances but found their calling in Gujarati films."
Riding on his popularity, Kanodia forayed into politics and became MLA on BJP ticket from Karjan in 2002. He lost the constituency in 2007.