Veteran Bollywood actor AK Hangal aka Avatar Kishan Hangal is no more. He was 98. The actor passed away on Sunday early in the morning at Asha Parekh hospital in Vile Parle following a brief illness which aggravated by a fracture of his thigh bone after he slipped and fell in his bathroom a couple of weeks ago.
The dialogue ‘Itna Sannata Kyon Hain Bhai?’ from the classic ‘Sholay’ always reminds of him. AK Hangal is a character artist who worked with almost all big stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jitendra, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, etc., and did many memorable characters as father or uncle and also did small roles in Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ and Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Paheli’. ‘Teesri Kasam’, ‘Namak Haraam’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Avataar’, ‘Arjun’, ‘Aandhee’, ‘Kora Kaagaz’, etc., are few of many landmark films in his career. Born in a Kashmiri Pandit family, he worked in more than 225 films and was seen in TV serial as well. The Government of India recognized his 50 years of remarkable contribution to the Indian Cinema and honoured him with Padma Bhushan in the year 2006.
Raagalahari prays for A K Hangal’s soul to rest in peace.
