'Paatal Lok' actor Asif Basra passes away
Bollywood actor Asif Basra, who was best known for his role in 'Jab We Met' and 'Kai Po Che' died by suicide as per the reports.
The late actor was reportedly found dead at a private guest house in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh on November 12. In his statement, SSP Kangra Vimukt Ranjan confirmed, "Film actor Asif Basra was found hanging in a private complex in Dharamshala. The forensic team is at the spot and the police team is investigating the matter. However, no note has been found."
It was being reported that the actor had a property on lease for the past five-six years in McLeodganj, upper Dharamshala and used to visit the place regularly.
In February this year, he posted a picture of himself on 'Instagram', which also turned out to be his last post before he took the drastic step to end his life. In the post, he could be seen sitting on a sofa with a chessboard clad in a black shirt and matching tie. He captioned it, "Gorakh Dhanda"
In his over two-decade-long career, Asif Basra played supporting parts in many critically-acclaimed features like 'Black Friday', 'Parzania' and 'Outsourced'. Among his notable performances in Hindi cinema, the 53-year-old actor played a cunning stall owner in Imtiaz Ali's 2007 film 'Jab We Met', alongside the likes of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor. He played also the father of Emraan Hashmi's character Shoaib Khan in Milan Luthria's film 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' (2010). He had also made an appearance in the 2019 release 'The Tashkent Files', wherein he shared the frame with Shweta Basu Prasad, Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty. He was last seen in 'Amazon Prime Video' series 'Pataal Lok' and 'Disney+ Hotstar' series 'Hostages' season two.
Asif Basra had also played an important role in 'National Award' winning Gujarati film 'Wrong Side Raju'.
Many Bollywood celebrities took to 'Twitter' to condole the death of Asif Basra. Some of the reactions were:
Hansal Mehta: Asif Basra! This cannot be true. This is just very, very sad.
Manoj Bajpayee: What? This is too shocking! I had shot with him just before lockdown! Oh my god!"
Emraan Hashmi: Rip Asif bhai
Divya Dutta: Terribly shocked to hear about Asif Basra's untimely demise. We shot together for 'Hostages 2'. He looked such a happy free-spirited man and was such a fabulous actor! RIP Asif. This is hard to digest.
Mukesh Chhabra: This cannot be true Asif Bhai. We have done so much work together from 'Kai Po Che' to 'Hostages 2'. I cannot believe this! What is happening?
Swara Bhasker: No!
Rahul Dholakia: Shocked to hear about Basra! What a wonderful actor and a jovial fellow - I mean why would he die?? It is very sad. I had directed him in 'Parzania' (Chagan), in 'Lamhaa' (the Darzee ) - and also in society. I'm very sad to hear about his passing! Asif Basra, I hope you are at peace.
Shruti Seth: RIP
Sachin Krishn (director of 'Hostages' season two): I am stunned by the news. I do not know the full facts. He was such a jovial person on sets. In fact, we used to envy his life because he would stay in the hills and come to Mumbai only to shoot. He was not only a fine actor but more importantly, a beautiful person. It feels like a personal loss.
Randeep Hooda: Rest in peace brother.
