Movies

Naresh Kanodia (20 August 1943 – 27 October 2020) was an Indian Gujarati film actor, singer, musician and politician from Gujarat.

Early life
Naresh Kanodia was born on 20 August 1943 at the village of Kanoda (now in Patan district, Gujarat, India) in poor mill worker's family of Mithabhai Kanodia.

Career
He started to perform as a stage singer and dancer along with his elder brother Mahesh Kanodia. They are one of the successful musical pairs in the Gujarati film industry, known as Mahesh-Naresh. During the 1980s he and his brother were the first Gujarati pair to travel overseas and perform as stage artists in locations including Africa, America and some other Asian countries. Kanodia started his career with the film Veli Ne Avya Phool (1970). The same year he also played a minor role in the film Jigar and Ami. He has acted more than 100 Gujarati films.

Some of his popular films are Jog Sanjog, Kanku Ni Kimat, Laju Lakhan, Unchi Medina Uncha Mol, Raj Rajvan, Man Saibani Medie, Dhola Maru, Meru Malan, Maa Baap Ne Bhulsho Nahi, Rajveer. The career of Naresh Kanodia spans four decades and he has worked with many leading actresses including Snehlata, Aruna Irani, Roma Manek. Naresh Kanodia, along with Upendra Trivedi, Asrani, Kiran Kumar represent the older generation of Gujarati cinema who went on to perform in many successful movies in the 1980s and 1990s.

He had served as a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly representing Karjan constituency from 2002 to 2007.

Sauna Hridayma Hammesh: Mahesh-Naresh, an autobiographical Gujarati book on duo was published in 2011.

Personal life
He married Ratan Kanodia and they had two sons, Hitu Kanodia and Suraj Kanodia. Hitu Kanodia is also an actor and politician. His brother Mahesh Kanodia was a Gujarati musician, singer and politician.

He died on 27 October 2020, at U. N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, two days after his elder brother Mahesh.