Ravi Baswani of Chashme Buddoor fame passed away

Famous Indian comedy actor, Ravi Baswani, passed away on July 27, 2010, after suffering a massive heart attack during location-hunt in Shimla. Baswani was 64 years old.

Baswani had great comic timing. Movies like Chashme Buddoor and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro established him as a comedy actor in the Hindi movie industry. For his performance in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, he received Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984.

Born on September 29, 1946, Baswani worked in theatres, TV and movies. He started his career in theatres and became quite well known in the theatre circle. During his theatre days, he was a close friend of Anupam Kher, another top actor of Hindi cinema. After hearing the news of his death, Anupam Kher said, “Our association goes back to Chandigarh days, even before we started working in the Hindi film industry. We would act together in plays in Delhi. He was a happy and generous person. Wonderful and gypsy like. Its sad that he left us so soon...” Kher said.

Baswani’s debuted in films in 1981 with Chashme Buddoor. Directed by Sai Paranjpe, the movie tells the story of three friends- Siddharth (Farooq Shaikh), Omi (Rakesh Bedi) and Jomo (Ravi Baswani) who study at Delhi University. Out of them Siddharth is very studious. He just finished his M.A in Economics and preparing for Ph.D. The three friends had one thing in common- smoking. The movie gained cult following Baswani became immensely popular for his role in the movie.