Just hours before his passing, Asrani had shared a cheerful Diwali message with his fans on Instagram, a post that now feels like a fond parting note.
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Even in his final act, Asrani refused to stop performing. The veteran actor, who passed away after a prolonged illness, will be seen on screen once again in two upcoming films: ‘Bhoot Bangla’ and ‘Haiwaan’; both directed by Priyadarshan and starring Akshay Kumar.
Just hours before his passing, Asrani had shared a cheerful Diwali message with his fans on Instagram, a post that now feels like a fond parting note. His sudden demise left fans and the film fraternity shaken.
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His legacy continues to shine through his final works; one of which, ‘Bhoot Bangla’, has already completed shooting. It is still unclear if Asrani had finished his scenes for ‘Haiwaan’, a film that reunites Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan after a long gap.
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Akshay, who worked with Asrani in several comedies, expressed his grief. “Speechless with grief at the passing of Asrani ji,” he wrote. “We had just shared the warmest hug a week back on the set of ‘Haiwaan’. Bahot pyare insaan the…he had the most legendary comic timing. From ‘Hera Pheri’ to ‘Bhagam Bhag’, ‘De Dana Dan’, ‘Welcome’, and now our unreleased ‘Bhoot Bangla’ and ‘Haiwaan’. I learned so much from him. What an absolute loss to our industry. God bless you, Asrani Sir, for giving us a million reasons to laugh. Om Shanti.”
Asrani acted in over 350 films during a career that stretched across six decades. He began his journey in 1967 with ‘Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan’, playing the friend of Biswajeet, and soon became a familiar face in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s warm, middle-class tales like ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Chupke Chupke’, and ‘Namak Haraam’.
But it was his turn as the bumbling jailor in ‘Sholay’ that made him immortal. With his unforgettable dialogue “Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke jailor hain”, Asrani created one of the most quoted and loved comic moments in Indian cinema.
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