Actor Navin Nischol passes away

The 65-year-old actor was travelling to Pune along with actor-filmmaker Randhir Kapoor in a car this morning, when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Nischol was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead upon arrival.

The funeral took place this evening in the presence of family members and friends from the film industry. The actor's daughter Natasha, mother Kamla and brother Praveen were present.

Filmmaker Manmohan Shetty, director Govind Nihalani and Romesh Sharma too were present, among others.

A product of the Film and Television Institute of India, Nischol made a successful debut with 'Sawan Bhadon' in 1970 and went on to star in several films like 'Victoria No 203', 'Dhund', 'Chhalia', 'Parwana', 'Buddha Mil Gaya', and later as a character actor in 'The Burning Train', 'Major Saab', among others.

In the early 90s, he made a successful transition to the small screen with the popular sitcom 'Dekh Bhai Dekh'. He was last seen in films 'Khosla ka Ghosla' (2006) and Break ke Baad (2010).

His wife, Geetanjali, committed suicide in 2006. Several Bollywood personalities mourned the demise of the actor. "Very sad to hear of the passing of Mr Navin Nischol...may his soul rest in peace. He will be missed," Abhishek Bachchan said on micro-blogging site twitter.

Actress Dia Mirza tweeted, "Actor Navin Nischol played my father in 'Rehna Hain Tere Dil Mein'. Saddened by the news of his demise." "He was a good man. Aloof but helpful. We shared some nice moments during 'Khosla Ka Ghosla'. Sad he is no more," Anupam Kher said.

"Sad to hear about the demise of Navin Nischol. Very good actor and a great human being. The industry will miss him," filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar said. Actors Riteish Deshmukh, R Madhavan and filmmaker Kunal Kohli too condoled Nischol's death.