Noted actor Sunil Shende passes away

Mumbai: Noted actor Sunil Shende, known for movies and shows such as “Circus”, “Shanti” and “Sarfarosh”, died here on Monday, a close friend said.

The actor, who was in his 70s, breathed his last at his Vile Parle residence here, film and music critic Pavan Jha told PTI.

“He died at his residence in Vile Parle at 1 am last night and his body was cremated this afternoon at the Hindu crematorium in Parshiwada,” Jha said.

The cause of Shende’s death was not immediately known.

In his career of over 30 years, Shende was known for essaying supporting characters in movies such as “Gandhi”, “Khal Nayak”, “Ghayaal”, “Ziddi”, “Daud”, “Magan” and “Viruddh”.

He played the deputy commissioner of police in Aamir Khan-starrer “Sarfarosh”, and an inept politician in Rohit Shetty’s “Zameen”, headlined by Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan.

On Twitter, actor Rajesh Tailang paid a tribute to Shende and remembered working with the actor on the cult classic TV show “Shanti”.

“Great actor and and a great human being …Shri Sunil Shende is no more.I was fortunate enough to get a chance to work with him in the serial Shanti, I played his son. Babuji saadar shraddhanjali” he tweeted.