Priyadarshan recalls recently working with Govardhan Asrani in Bhoot Bangla, Haiwaan before he passed away

Filmmaker Priyadarshan paid tribute to legendary actor Asrani, who always elevated the humor in his films with his impeccable comedic presence. On Wednesday, Priyadarshan posted a photo showing him hugging Asrani tightly. Priyadarshan captioned the post, “Miss you Asraniji.” The filmmaker also reminded that he worked with Asrani in his recent films ‘Bhoot Bangla’ and ‘Haiwaan’, which also starred Akshay Kumar.

Priyadarshan starts working with Asrani in Bhoot Bangla, Haiwaan

For those who don’t know, the filmmaker shot around 19 films with Asrani and started working with the actor. “Only Hrishikesh Mukherjee has done so many films with him in the past. I think I have done around 19 films with him. This is some kind of record. I don’t think I have worked so many times with any other actor except Mohanlal. I started working with Asrani from my second Hindi film, Gardish. He is in almost every Hindi film, even my last two films – Bhoot Bangla and Haiwaan. He is in both the films. He is there. I took his last photo five days ago. His health had started to deteriorate but he was still agile on the set,” he told The Indian Express.

The filmmaker also revealed a piece of advice he received from the actor. “He was advising me not to do a film alone because he had lost everything by doing a film. His presence was always welcome and he would make us laugh by telling old stories. He was such a good storyteller that we laughed heartily. So we kept telling him to tell the stories, Raj Kapoor’s stories, all that,” he added.

Priyadarshan has collaborated with Asrani in iconic films like ‘Billu’, ‘De Dana Dan’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, ‘Dhol’, ‘Malamaal Weekly’ and ‘Hera Pheri’. Legendary actor Asrani also stars in his yet-to-be-released films ‘Haiwaan’ and ‘Bhoot Bangla’.

Asrani passed away

Asrani passed away on Monday at the age of 84 after a long illness. According to his manager Babu Bhai Theeba, the veteran actor was admitted to the Bharatiya Arogya Nidhi Hospital in Juhu four days before his death. He had been feeling weak for 15 days. Four days ago, he had severe breathing difficulties and therefore visited the doctor. He was taken to hospital on medical advice and we had to cancel the shoot. He initially showed signs of improvement, but on the third day, his condition worsened and unfortunately he passed away on the fourth day,” Babu Bhai Theeba told ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)