Actress Nilu Kohli expressed her grief at the demise of veteran actor Arun Bali as he departed for his heavenly abode after suffering from illness since long on Friday. Nilu had worked with him in the recently released film Goodbye, which stars megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles.
For the unversed, Arun Bali essays the role of Neena Gupta's father in the movie.
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Reacting to the unfortunate departure of the senior actor, Nilu shared a picture in which she and Arun can be seen along with the film's cast. She wrote in the caption, "I am too shocked. I knew it was going to happen because he was very unwell. I tried calling his number but unfortunately we couldn't connect. At the moment, I don't know what to say."
She added in the caption: "What a day you chose to go, Bali saab, as I fondly called Aroon Bali ji. Today your film GOODBYE releases!!! thought I would post this picture with something really happy but uparwala has his ways. I am going to miss you and like how!!GOODBYE AROON BALI JI. Rest in peace Sir (sic)."
Many of his industry friends and actors shared messages expressing pain on his passing away. Actress Charrul Malik wrote: "May his soul rest in peace" Another actor Hansa Singh mentioned: "How uncanny life can be #goodbye Bali ji".
Arun Bali has been featured in numerous film and television series. He essayed the role of King Porus in the 1991 period drama Chanakya, became Kunwar Singh in the Doordarshan's soap opera Swabhimaan and also played the role of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Chief Minister of undivided Bengal in the critically acclaimed film Hey Ram. In the 2000s, he became known for his "grandfatherly" roles.
Among the TV serials that he appeared in are Doosra Kewal(1989), The Great Maratha (1994), Shaktimaan, Swabhimaan (1995), Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan (2002), Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev (2012), P.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke (2016), among many others. Some of the films Arun Bali was a pivotal part of include Saugandh (1991), Phool Aur Angaar (1993), Ram Jaane (1995), Satya (1998), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Ready (2011), Barfi! (2012), PK (2014), Kedarnath (2018), Samrat Prithviraj (2022), among several others.
(With inputs from IANS)
