“Viju Khote –We Will Miss You” Mourns Buddy-Actor Rishi Kapoor-So Does Ajay Devgn On Hearing The Tragic News

Chaitanya Padukone

“Tera kya hoga Kaalia---SSSardar, maine aapka namak khaaya Sardar ” this iconic dialogue between actors Viju (Kaalia) Khote and Amjad (Gabbar) Singh still sends shivers down the spine whenever you watch ‘Sholay. Veteran theatre artiste, Marathi movies and Bollywood films prolific actor Viju Khote is no more. All his buddy colleagues including Rishi Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit , Boman Irani, Suniel Shetty have conveyed their earnest respects and condolences. “RIP. Viju Khote. Dear friend over the years. Though much elder,we used to bike together along with sister Shobha Khote ji,when I was young. Passionate and well informed about American films. We will miss you—Where are you ” reacted Rishi Kapoor . While Ajay Devgn condoled, “ Actors like Viju Khote were institutions by themselves. Their large body of work will always be remembered. I’m fortunate to have worked with him. RIP.” Jovial and affable by nature, fabulous actor Viju who stayed in Gamdevi ( central Mumbai) never ever hankered for media-mileage. Even after his immortal cameo role as dreaded dacoit ‘Kaalia’ in the iconic film ‘Sholay’ (1975), he never allowed stardom to affect him. Once when I met him during the late-80’s, Viju shared with me that initially outstation people stared at him in skeptical disbelief as how with an innocent face he could look like a khatarnaak daaku in ‘Sholay’. At times, he would carry with him a few continuity stills photos of his Sholay scenes with Amjad Khan. Some years ago when the ‘3-D’ version of ‘Sholay’ released, I remember meeting Viju where he said “ Arre waah, now audiences can actually experience up-close how ‘jittery’ my character Kaalia was, during my final encounter with Gabbar Singh”. Incidentally, Viju happens to be eminent veteran actress Shubha Khote’s younger brother, related to legendary Durga Khote and also the maternal uncle of popular actress Bhavna Balsaver “My uncle Viju (77 years) passed away today at 6.55 am peacefully in his sleep at the residence. He had been unwell since quite some time and had multiple organ failure Since he did not wish to die in the hospital, we had brought him home few days ago. It is a great loss for all of us," lamented actress-niece Bhavana Balsavar. In 2016, versatile Viju who has acted in nearly 450 movies, was seen as the adamant match-maker Shirish-appa in this Marathi satirical-comic movie ‘Ventilator’ co-produced by Priyanka Chopra.

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