'Lagaan' and 'Ghajini' actor Pradeep Rawat passes away at 74

Veteran actor Pradeep Rawat, known for some memorable performances in iconic Bollywood movies such as 'Lagaan' and 'Ghajini', left for heavenly abode at the age of 74. Pradeep Rawat is survived by his wife and son Vikramaditya.

The unfortunate news of the passing away of the actor was shared by Pradeep Rawat's longtime colleague, actor Yashpal Sharma.

Yashpal, who was also a part of 'Lagaan', paid a heartfelt tribute to Pradeep Rawat through an emotional social media post that read, "Pradeep Rawat Our Gajini Deva of Lagaan RIP (sic)”.

If the reports are to be believed, the veteran actor was suffering from cancer. It is also reported that Pradeep Rawat was in the hospital for some time before passing away.

Talking about his career, during his tenure spanning more than 3 decades, Pradeep Rawat had worked in multiple languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.

He made his acting debut with the Bollywood movie 'Meri Jung' back in 1985, where he was seen essaying the role of a police inspector.

However, he ended up becoming a household name for his portrayal of Ashwatthama, the son of Guru Dronacharya, in B.R. Chopra’s iconic television series 'Mahabharat.'

Some of his early roles in the Hindi films include, 'Samundar (1986)'. He was seen as a naval officer in the drama.

In 1990, he appeared as the sidekick of Amitabh Bachchan in the movie 'Agneepath'.

Then came Aamir Khan's 'Sarfarosh' in 1999, in which he essayed the role of Sultan, a key henchman, and in 'Lagaan (2001)' he portrayed one of the villagers, Deva Singh Sodhi, who joins Bhuvan (Aamir Khan)'s cricket team against the British officer.

Some of his other noteworthy projects also include 'The Hero: Love Story of a Spy', 'Stalin', 'Veeram', '1: Nenokkadine', 'Loukyam', 'Nenu Sailaja', 'Sarrainodu', 'Nene Raju Nene Mantri', 'Aayirathil Iruvar', 'Market Raja MBBS' and 'Miss Match.'

Indo-Asian News Service