Industry mourns Jagdeep’s death

1939-2020

HBRINGING DOWN WALLS

In a first, Ranjit Goraya Singh, a turbaned Sikh, who has his roots in Sekha village in Gurdaspur, Punjab, has been elected as the deputy mayor of Bobigny, France. It’s quite an achievement in a country that doesn’t allow turban in public schools. Congratulations have been pouring in for Singh from across the world. e may be most popular for his small part as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay (1975), but veteran actor-comedian Jagdeep — born as Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri — who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 81, will always be remembered as one of the most well known comic actors.

The thespian, who acted in over 400 films in his illustrious career, started off as a child actor in BR Chopra’s Afsana (1951). His other memorable films have been Andaz Apna Apna (1994), China Gate (1998) and Bombay To Goa (2007). He was last seen in Akshaye Khanna-starrer Gali Gali Chor Hai (2012).

Jagdeep also directed a film titled Soorma Bhopali (1988) with his character from Sholay, as the protagonist.

I worked with Jagdeep so much. He was one of the greatest comedians that we had. Soorma Bhopali from Sholay was such a legendary character. He was a very nice person, and we worked together in a lot of projects. He was always friendly. It had been ten months since I last met him.

When we would be on sets shooting, I remember, we would get a lot of time between shots, even 30 minutes in between shots, it used to get very odd. But I remember, I used to sit with him and talk.

HT PHOTO Jagdeep

PHOTO: TWITTER