Sunil Shende’s co-stars remember the actor

Actor Sunil Shende, known for his roles in TV shows such as Circus and Shanti, and the film Sarfarosh (1999), died at his Mumbai residence on Monday. He was 75. The reason behind his death is still unknown. Here, his co-stars share some fond memories with the late veteran.

Actor Amit Behl shared screen space with Shende in Shanti. He says, “I started my career with him. He was a senior Marathi theatre actor. We became close as we shifted to the same neighbourhood. We’d often bump into each other. He was known for his baritone voice. His work in Marathi projects was unparalleled. We lost touch, but just a few months ago, he texted and asked to meet. But we couldn’t catch up.”

Actor Rajesh Tailang played Shende’s son in the show Shanti. He says, “He was a senior theatre actor and we were all young. His presence itself was so insightful. Since most of my scenes were with him, we’d have several rehearsals. He was a sweet and friendly man, but he had such a kadak role. There were many scenes where he had to slap me, but he was always hesitant. Hum log bahut gappe maarte the. We didn’t stay in touch. Ab woh afsos reh gaya; mil lena chahiye tha.”

Actor Renuka Shahane and Shende worked together in Circus and the former was unaware of his death until we reached out to her. “We worked together almost 30 years ago and anubhav bahut achha tha. He used to work with utmost simplicity. He was a gentleman, who was often quiet. We spent so much time on the sets of Circus. We weren’t in touch, as we never worked together after that show. I knew he was not keeping well,” she says.