‘Asrani was still…’: Priyadarshan recalls recently working with Govardhan Asrani in Bhoot Bangla, Haiwaan before he passed away

Filmmaker Priyadarshan has paid a sweet tribute to the legendary actor Asrani, who has always elevated the humour in his films with his impeccable comic presence. On Wednesday, Priyadarshan posted a picture in which he could be seen giving Asrani a tight hug.”I miss u, Asraniji,” Priyadarshan captioned the post. The filmmaker also recalled working with Asrani in his last films, which will be ‘Bhoot Bangla’ and ‘Haiwaan’, both also starring Akshay Kumar. 

Priyadarshan opens up on working with Asrani in Bhoot Bangla, Haiwaan

For the unversed, the filmmaker has done about 19 movies with Asrani and opened up on working with the actor. “Only Hrishikesh Mukherjee has done so many films with him in the past. I think I have done about 19 movies with him. That’s some kind of a record. I don’t think I have worked so many times with any other actor except, of course, Mohanlal. I started working with Asrani from my second Hindi film, Gardish, onwards. He is in almost every Hindi film, even my two latest — Bhoot Bangla and Haiwaan. Both films he is there. I just shot the last shot of him five days back. His health had started failing, but he was still agile on the set,” he told the Indian Express.

The filmmaker also revealed the one advice he got from the actor. “He used to advise me not to produce films on my own because he had lost everything by producing a film. His presence was always welcome, and he used to make us laugh by telling old stories. He was such a good narrator; we laughed our guts out. So we kept on telling him to tell us the stories, the stories of Raj Kapoor, all those things,” he added. 

Priyadarshan collaborated with Asrani on iconic films such as ‘Billu’, ‘De Dana Dan’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, ‘Dhol’, ‘Malamaal Weekly’, and ‘Hera Pheri’. His yet-to-be-released films ‘Haiwaan’ and ‘Bhoot Bangla’, also feature legendary actor Asrani.

Asrani passed away

Asrani passed away on Monday after a prolonged illness at the age of 84. According to his manager, Babu Bhai Theeba, the veteran actor was admitted to Bharatiya Arogya Nidhi Hospital in Juhu four days ago before his demise.”He had been feeling weak for 15 days. Four days ago, he developed severe breathing difficulties, so he visited the doctor.Following medical advice, he was admitted to the hospital, and we had to cancel the shooting. Initially, he showed signs of recovery, but his condition worsened on the third day, and unfortunately, he passed away on the fourth day,” Babu Bhai Theeba told ANI.After learning about the demise of Asrani, many took to social media to pay their heartfelt condolences.

(With inputs from ANI)