18 October,2025 04:11 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Jackie Shroff
Veteran television and film actor Pankaj Dheer, best known for playing Karna in the iconic TV series Mahabharat, has died after a prolonged battle with cancer on 15th October. His prayer meet was held in the city on 17th October, where several Bollywood celebs, including Rohit Shetty, Esha Deol, Jackie Shroff, and others, arrived to pay their respects. However, at one moment, Jackie Shroff lost his calm when paparazzi hounded him.
In a video shared on Instagram, Jackie, who walked towards his car, was followed by paparazzi recording him. He stopped, looked at a person, and approached him. Jackie, who looked extremely angry, told him, "Tere ghar mein, apne ghar mein hoga toh samajh raha haina (If something were to happen in your house, you're understanding, right)?" The person immediately said, "I wasn't doing anything." He also agreed with what Jackie said.
The Indian film and television fraternity gathered in Mumbai on the 17th of October to pay their last respects to veteran actor Pankaj Dheer, who passed away a day earlier. Among those present at the meet were filmmaker Rohit Shetty; actors Sharad Saxena, Suresh Oberoi, Esha Deol, Zayed Khan, Tanvi Azmi, Mohit Raina, Aditya Pancholi, Mukesh Rishi, Puneet Issar, Ashok Pandit, and Mukesh Khanna, among others. Also seen were Jackie Shroff, Johnny Lever, Ramesh Taurani, actress Sheeba with her husband Akashdeep, Ranjeet, and Rajat Bedi, who came to offer their last respects to the actor.
Apart from the television show Mahabharat, he was also known for his roles in popular television series like Chandrakanta, Bado Bahu, Sasural Simar Ka, and others. In Bollywood, he delivered memorable performances in movies like Baadshah, Soldier, Zameen, and others.
The actor is survived by his wife, Anita Dheer; son, Niketan Dheer; and daughter-in-law, Kratika Sengar. Niketan Dheer is also an actor, just like his father, and is popularly known for his role in Chennai Express as Thangbali.
Talking about Shroff, he will next be seen in Ahmed Khan's Welcome to the Jungle, which also stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, and many others. He is also a part of Kartik Aaryan and Ananya Panday's Tu Meri Main Tera. Apart from this, he also has Baap, which reunites him with Sunny Deol, Mithun Chakraborty, and Sanjay Dutt.
