MUMBAI: Gautam Adhikari, the chairman and whole time director of the SAB group, died at the age of 67 in the wee hours of Friday (October 27) at his residence. His last rites were performed in Vile Parle suburban area of Mumbai.

He was a diploma holder in commercial art and was considered as one of the pioneers of the Marathi TV industry. He is survived by wife Ranjana and two children – a son and a daughter.

Gautam and his brother Markand started a company-- Sri Adhikari Brothers (SAB) Group- in 1985 as a small family owned partnership firm.

The company initially produced serials in Marathi, but soon ventured into film distribution and production business. He had set a record for the highest number of hit TV shows and his record was also mentioned in the Limca Book of World Records.

They introduced standup comedy on small screen with the show Made in India, which was aired on DD1 in 1998.

The production house also offered thriller and music based programmes on TV. The most popular TV shows directed by him are Commandar, Marshall, Silsila and Hello Inspector.