The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Bollywood star dies aged 86
Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey, who starred in films including A Passage To India and Gandhi, has died at the age of 86.
Jaffrey had more than 150 films to his name, which included classic Indian movies such as Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ke Khiladi (The Chess Players).
Television credits include Tandoori Nights, The Far Pavilions and The Jewel In The Crown.
Jaffrey collapsed at his London home from a brain haemorrhage and never regained consciousness, a statement said.
Born in India, Jaffrey formed his own English theatre company in Delhi, where he starred in productions of Shakespeare, Wilde, Priestley, Fry, Dylan Thomas and Tennessee Williams. He then went to America as a Fulbright scholar, where he gained a master's degree in drama.
Remaining in America to star on Broadway, he played Professor Godbole in A Passage To India alongside Dame Gladys Cooper.
He later returned to A Passage To India, playing Hamidullah in David Lean’s 1984 film version.
In 1998, he became part of the first Asian family to feature regularly in ITV soap Coronation Street, playing Ravi Desai.
Jaffrey was made an OBE in 1995 for his contributions to drama, becoming the first Indian to receive the award.
He leaves his wife Jennifer Jaffrey, as well as three children by his first wife, the actress and author Madhur Jaffrey.