Veteran actor Arun Bali passed away at the age of 79 years in Mumbai. Best known for his work on TV show 'Swabhimaan' and blockbuster hit '3 Idiots', died on Friday morning at his residence in suburban Mumbai. Bali's son Ankush said his father was suffering with Myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease caused by a communication failure between nerves and muscles, for which he was admitted to a hospital early this year. Ankush said his father was responding well to the treatment but passed away at around 4.30 am. As the news hit Bollywood, actors including Abhishek Bachchan, Neena Gupta and singer Guru Randhawa mourned the demise of Bali.
Taking to Instagram, Neena shared a post which she captioned, "Goodbye #ArunBali. My first day of shoot on the Parampara series set years ago with Arun Bali. So glad we got to shoot recently for Goodbye." In the picture, the 'Badhaai Ho' actor could be seen sitting alongside veteran actor Arun Bali dressed up as a priest.
Rashmika Mandanna also shared a picture of the late actor on his Instagram stories and wrote, ‘Truly saddened’ along with a broken heart emoji.
Disheartened over the news, actor Abhishek Bachchan wrote, "Very sad to hear of the passing of Arun Bali Ji. A wonderfully warm and loving man. Had the pleasure to share screen space with him on several film. My condolences to his family. Om shanti."
Singer Guru Randhawa shared a post on his Instagram stories which he captioned, "Rest in peace sir."
Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani tweeted, ""Terrible sad news about the passing of Arun Bali sir. Had the wonderful fortune of working with him in #POWBandiYuddhKe Always a smile on his calm and peaceful face. #RIP #ArunBali"
Bali made his acting debut with noted filmmaker Lekh Tandon’s TV show “Doosra Keval” as superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s uncle and went on to work in TV shows such as period drama “Chanakya”, “Swabhimaan”, “Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand”, “Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan”, and “P.O.W.- Bandi Yuddh Ke”. ALSO READ: Arun Bali Dies at 79: Veteran film & TV actor who last appeared in Laal Singh Chaddha passes away in Mumbai
Some of his popular films include “Saugandh”, “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman”, “Khalnayak”, “Satya”, “Hey Ram”, “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, “3 Idiots”, “Ready”, “Barfi”, “Manmarziyaan”, “Kedarnath”, “Samrat Prithviraj”, and “Laal Singh Chaddha”. His film “Goodbye”, also featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandanna, released on Friday. ALSO READ: GoodBye Review, Twitter Reaction: Netizens call it warm hug from Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna
Bali is survived by a son and three daughters. His last rites will be performed on Saturday.