Just days before his sudden death, veteran actor Asrani had been shooting for Priyadarshan’s upcoming film Haiwaan. The actor-director duo worked in over a dozen films together, and Asrani’s final performance also came in Priyadarshan’s film, the director has revealed. In a new interview, Priyadarshan spoke about what Asrani’a final days on set were like.

Priyadarshan on Asrani

In an interview with News 18, Priyadarshan addressed Asrani’s death and said, “Asrani sir used to bring a lot of positivity on set. He was a great man. It’s a personal loss for me. Very rarely do you meet people whose death affects you so much.”

Asrani was filming Haiwaan, Priyadarshan’s film starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. Recalling his final days on the film’s set, the filmmaker said, “I’m blessed that I shot his last take. It happened about five-six days back. That’s why I was very shocked when I heard the news yesterday. I’ve just one small scene left with him in Haiwaan. It just has one dialogue by him. We’ll manage when we get down to filming it. All other scenes featuring him have been shot. He had a bad back pain. So, we used to give him a chair. We would remove it only when the cameras would start rolling. He had told me that he went to Indore and came back. The road was bad and he couldn’t move his legs. But he still came and finished the work.”

Asrani’s acting career

After graduating from the FTII in 1966, Asrani began his acting career as a lead in Punjabi cinema, but eventually made his mark in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Hindi films in the 1970s. He established himself as a comedian in the 70s and 80s, and is best remembered for playing the eccentric jailer in Sholay. Since 2000, he appeared in a lot of films directed by Priyadarshan, including like Hera Pheri, Malamaal Weekly, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, and Dhamaal.