Marathi star Ravindra Mahajan, who debuted with Big B, found dead in Pune home

Mumbai, July 15 (IANS) Veteran Marathi actor and director Ravindra Mahajani was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his rental home in Talegaon-Dabhade on the outskirts of the city, here early on Saturday, officials said.

Mahajani, 75, was living alone there since January and had limited interactions with the people in the neighbourhood, and the cause of the death is being investigated.

A police officer said that the actor passed away 3 days before his body was discovered. The actor's body will be handed over to the family for the last rites after his autopsy.

Mahajani was found dead in a locked flat at Xrbia Housing Society in Ambi area of the Talegaon Dabhade after neighbours complained of a foul smell from the house.

As per media reports, Ravindra's son Gashmeer Mahajani had been trying to reach his father but the phone calls were going unanswered. Hours before his body was found, Gashmeer asked a friend in Pune to visit Talegaon Dabhade to check on his father. The friend in question planned on visiting the actor's flat on Saturday but the actor's death was reported before the friend reached the flat. The door of the flat was broken after the complaints from the neighbours.

The cops then discovered the actor's body in the house.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde and Sharad Pawar condoled the death of the actor and have paid tributes to him.

Shinde wrote in his Twitter: "Veteran Marathi actor Ravindra Mahajani, who ruled the hearts of the audience with his all-round beauty, has sadly passed away. May the Lord grant eternal peace to his soul and give strength to Mahajani family to recover from this grief. A heartfelt tribute (sic)".

His legion of fans and admirers flooded the social message with condolences, pictures, songs and film clips remembering Mahajani and his heydays in the Marathi film industry.

Born in Belgaum, Karnataka, Mahajani had come to Mumbai in the 1960s and started working as a taxi-driver while struggling to find a foothold in films.

After many auditions and attempts in between ferrying passengers, he landed a bit role of a policeman in the Hindi film, 'Saat Hindustani' (1969) - which was also the debut film of Amitabh Bachchan - and later on Mahajani bagged a role in Kiran V. Shantaram’s film, 'Zunj' (1975), which kickstarted his film career.

Later, Mahajani worked with some of the leading actors and actresses in nearly two dozen Marathi films like 'Laxmi' (1978), 'Duniya Kari Salaam' (1979), 'Gondhalat Gondhal' (1982), 'Mumbaicha Fauzdar' (1984), 'Sarja' (1987), 'Kalat Nakalat' (1990), 'Carry On Marath' (2015, his son's debut, in which he played a guest role), and 'Panipat' (2019), and a couple of Gujarati films also.