Actor Sameer Khakhar, greatest recognized for taking part in the lovable drunk Khopdi within the traditional Eighties TV serial ”Nukkad”, died at a hospital right here within the early hours of Wednesday as a consequence of a number of organ failure. The actor, who was most not too long ago seen within the Prime Video collection ”Farzi” and moved to the US within the Nineteen Nineties for a number of years to grow to be a software program developer, was 71.

Sameer Khakhar was admitted to MM Hospital in Borivali in suburban Mumbai on Tuesday morning following respiratory points, his youthful brother Ganesh Khakhar informed PTI.

”He had respiratory issues since yesterday and later grew to become unconscious. We referred to as the physician at residence and had been requested to hospitalise him. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of MM Hospital,” he mentioned. ”Slowly and step by step, he suffered a number of organ failure. He was unconscious after which he collapsed. He handed away at 4.30 am at the moment,” Ganesh Khakhar added. The final rites had been performed at a Borivali crematorium within the presence of his household and a few mates from Sameer Khakhar days in Gujarati theatre.

He is survived by his spouse. Sameer Khakhar’s notable works embody TV present ”Circus”, ”Shrimaan Shrimati” and movies similar to ”Parinda”, Salman Khan-starrer ”Jai Ho”, Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra’s ”Hasee Toh Phasee”, Sudhir Mishra-directed ”Serious Men”, and Vikas Bahl’s net collection ”Sunflower”.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta thanked Sameer Khakhar for the reminiscences of Khopdi.

”For some cause I used to be nicknamed Khopdi in faculty after his iconic character in Nukkad. My closest mates from the time nonetheless name me Khopdi. But I suppose it’s time to say goodbye to the OG. Goodbye Sameer Khakhar. Thank you for the reminiscences,” Mehta captioned a collection of the late actor’s images on Twitter.

”Khopdi has left this Circus and gone to the Nukkad within the sky,” wrote director Nila Madhab Panda on the microblogging website.

”Good bye Sameer Khakhar, thanks for all these fantastic reminiscences, your characters will all the time stick with us. Om Shanti,” he added.

Sameer Khakhar hit the headlines in early 2021 after a tweet from a movie journalist, informing trade people who the actor was in search of work, caught the eye of trade colleagues similar to Satish Shah and Gulshan Devaiah.

“Everybody is looking for work and so am I. And by looking for work I mean approaching and applying for a job. In the case of actors, it is a daily exercise with every film or show. But I am a bad salesman,” the actor told PTI in January 2021.

”I am hopeful people who know me will offer me work. I would like to work till my last breath. I want to entertain people all my life, I am not tired yet,” he added, His declare to fame could have been enjoying the inebriated Khopdi in Kundan Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s ”Nukkad”, however the actor did not like being stereotyped.

“I said no to a lot of films because I didn’t want to do anything similar every time… Change is a constant, you have to adapt to it. You can’t be rigid saying I will only do films or TV or only this kind of a role,” he mentioned about his resolution to maneuver to the US within the Nineteen Nineties the place he enrolled in a pc software program course and labored at an organization as Java developer until recession hit in 2008.

In the identical interview, Sameer Khakhar recalled how he bagged the function of Khopdi in an opportunity assembly with Shah and Mirza.

”They (makers) thought this character could possibly be utilised within the serial (extra) and the variety of episodes stored rising. What me about this function was that he was a drunkard however rational.

”We all labored in creating this function. Saeed sahab informed me Khopdi is a misplaced man within the metropolis and is harmless. That sentence triggered loads of issues in me. I didn’t sleep for a number of days, making an attempt to know the mindset of the character,” he mentioned.

The actor most not too long ago starred in Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi-led Prime Video collection ”Farzi”, enjoying the function of a foul-mouthed aged particular person named Illyas.

Filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, who created and directed the collection, paid a tribute to Sameer Khakhar on their Instagram Stories.

They shared a photograph of the actor from the present and wrote, ”Sameer Khakhar (1952-2023).

Actor Bhuvan Arora, who additionally starred in ”Farzi”, wrote on his Instagram Stories, ”To watching you in ‘nukkad’ as a child to lastly working with you… Rest in peace Sameer sir.” Actor Gulshan Devaiah shared a photograph of the veteran and tweeted, ”Sameer Khakhar: 1952-2023 Goodbye sir #RIP” The official Twitter deal with of Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) additionally condoled Sameer Khakhar’s demise.

”CINTAA expresses its condolences on the demise of Shri Sameer Khakhar (Member since 1986),” the commerce organisation posted.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)