It is as unfortunate as it gets. One of the brightest stars around, Sushant Singh Rajput, won’t be seen on the big screen anymore. With his untimely demise, he joins the list of those actors whose films released after they passed away. Let’s take a look.
Sushant Singh Rajput – Dil Bechara
He delivered a superhit Chhichhore last year. However, it is a known fact that Dil Bechara was stuck for a while and talks were already on for its OTT release. Then Drive release, and flopped, and yet again the film went on a backburner. It is now back in news due to his demise and there is renewed interest in the film. Unfortunately, this would be his last screen outing.
Rishi Kapoor – Sharmaji Namkeen
Rishi Kapoor was keeping quite busy till two years before he fell ill. In the interim period, his Rajma Chawal released on the OTT medium. He had already finished shooting for Sharmaji Namkeen with his Bol Radha Bol co-star Juhi Chawla before he passed away. A breezy feel good entertainer in the making, it is said to feature Kapoor Sr. in all his glory. Can’t wait for that.
Divya Bharti – Rang, Shatranj
Entire nation was truly shocked and wept inconsolably after Divya Bharti’s death. She was one of the top stars then and was working in number of films. Her Rang with Kamal Sadanah is still remembered for chartbuster songs ‘Teri Mohabbat Ne’, ‘Tujhe Na Dekhoon’ & ‘Mere Pyar Ka Hisab’. Even Shatranj with Mithun Chakraborty featured her in a chartbuster ‘Dil Pe Tere Pyar’.
Rajesh Khanna – Riyasat
Rajesh Khanna had pretty much retired for more than a decade and was just doing an odd film here or there before he fell ill. Post his death, his last screen outing was Riyasat which seemed like an incomplete film but eventually had to be released. It saw a token release for itself and there isn’t much awareness about it amongst audiences either.
Smita Patil – Mirch Masala, Dance Dance, Waaris
Smita Patil pretty much scores a record when it comes to a leading actress seeing maximum releases of hers after her passing away. With close to a dozen odd releases, it pretty much shows how she was on the top of her game. The most memorable of them all were Mirch Masala (an art house film), Dance Dance (out and out commercial) and Waaris (intense drama).
Vinod Mehra – Patthar Ke Phool, Insaniyat, Gurudev
‘Passed away too soon’ – That’s what many exclaimed when Vinod Mehra met with a sudden death due to a cardiac arrest. At that time he was shooting for his directorial Gurudev with Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi. As an actor, he was last seen in Patthar Ke Phool (with Salman Khan) and Insaniyat (with Amitabh Bachchan and Sunny Deol) amongst a few other films.
Amrish Puri – Kisna
As an actor, Amrish Puri traversed generations and worked across art-house cinema before going full throttle into hardcore commercial cinema as a villain. In his later years though he started working in many light hearted films [Hulchul, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi – to name a few]. However, a little more than a week after his death, he was seen in Subash Ghai’s Kisna.
Farooq Sheikh – Youngistaan
One of the most loved actors of the 70s/80s, Farooq Sheikh also became quite popular as a TV host. He was working occasionally on films and was seen in Club 60 where he played the central protagonist. Soon after the film’s release he passed away. Later he was seen in Youngistaan where he played a political advisor to Jackky Bhagnani, a Prime Minister candidate.
Sanjeev Kumar – Qatl, Love and God
Just like Vinod Mehra, even Sanjeev Kumar passed away too soon. While he created a good repertoire of films starting from the B&W era, the actor had moved on playing strong character (and even villain) roles. After a cardiac arrest, close to half a dozen films of his released in theaters over many years. The most notable of them were Qatl and much delayed Love and God.
Om Puri – Tubelight
Once a poster boy of art-house cinema, Om Puri worked in dozens of films as a villain as well as character actors. However, a few years before his death, he started working on quite a few films which hardly did justice to his talent as well as standing. Though a few of his films released post his death as well, the one which was in the top of the league was Tubelight.