{"id":221562,"date":"2020-04-16T15:03:20","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T19:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/?p=221562"},"modified":"2020-04-16T15:03:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T19:03:44","slug":"film-tv-and-theatre-actor-ranjit-chowdhry-dead-at-65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/film-tv-and-theatre-actor-ranjit-chowdhry-dead-at-65\/","title":{"rendered":"Film, TV and theatre actor Ranjit Chowdhry dead at 65"},"content":{"rendered":"
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His funeral will be held on April 16, and a gathering to celebrate his life and share his stories is scheduled for May 5<\/p>\n

Film, television and theatre actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday at the age of 65. The viewers of Hindi films will remember him for the eternally boyish charm that he exuded on screen in the middle-of-the-road films of the late 70s and early 80s. Chowdhry was much loved as the confused, oddball, nonchalant but cheerful and likeable youngster in the heartwarming family films of Basu Chatterjee \u2014 Khatta Meetha (1978) and Baton Baton Mein (1979) \u2014 and Hrishikesh Mukherjee \u2014 Khubsoorat (1980).<\/p>\n

The news of his death was shared on social media by his half-sister and theatre artiste Raell Padamsee. His funeral will be held today and a gathering to celebrate his life and share his stories is scheduled for May 5.<\/p>\n

Son of well-known theatre artiste, Pearl Padamsee, Chowdhry had theatre and adworld stalwart Alyque Padamsee for his step-father. In his memoir, A Double Life: My Exciting Years in Theatre and Advertising published by Penguin Random House India, Padamsee wrote of Chowdhry being as important to him as his own children. \u201cRanjit, my foster son, has always been a delightful sprite of a human being. An impish person, both in size and personality, he’s quick-witted and charming, and has carved out an impressive international film career for himself as Ranjit Chowdhry,\u201d he wrote. In fact, Padamsee\u2019s description of being the head of the extended family, with three partners and four children, could well be straight out of a scene from Khatta Meetha, Chowdhry\u2019s debut film which was about the skirmishes that ensue amongst their children when two elderly people \u2014 Ashok Kumar and Pearl Padamsee \u2014 decide to marry each other in the autumn of their lives. Ironically, Chowdhry played the foster son to his real mother in the film.<\/p>\n

After a short stint in Hindi cinema, which included a tiny role as a shoeshine boy in Tinnu Anand\u2019s Amitabh Bachchan starrer Kaalia (1981), Chowdhry moved to the USA in the 80s, that marked a new phase in his life and career.<\/p>\n

He went on to become a familiar presence in many South Asian-American diaspora films and can be counted as one of the early pioneers in North America when it comes to expatriate actors from the sub-continent. He formed a close professional and personal bond there with filmmakers Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta. \u201cDespite his diminutive frame, he was a towering icon of Indian diaspora cinema and a master of his craft. By far, one of the most endearingly quirky and acerbically witty people I\u2019ve had the pleasure of knowing. A true original!\u201d tweeted actor Rahul Khanna, his co-star in Deepa Mehta’s Bollywood\/Hollywood (2002).<\/p>\n

\u201cI can barely process that Ranjit is gone,\u201d said Mira Nair on a phone call with The Hindu. She recollected meeting him for the first time in 1974 at an intercollegiate theatre competition at IIT Kanpur. \u201cI was totally impressed by his blazing performance. I was myself playing the female lead in another play, Picnic on the Battle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She then saw him in Siraj Ayesha Sayani\u2019s Hungama Bombay Ishtyle (1978), a film and performance she regards as unforgettable. She thought of him while penning the script of Salaam Bombay (1988) with Sooni Taraporevala \u2014 as Chillum, the role eventually played by Raghuvir Yadav \u2014 and eventually got to work with him in Mississippi Masala (1991). Later he joined her on The Perez Family (1995) and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996). \u201cHe was a part of the caravan. He was a staple in the family as well as the creative family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Deepa Mehta emailed The Hindu saying that she heard the news of his death from theatre personality Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry who also happened to be the one through whom Mehta had first met Ranjit.<\/p>\n

\u201cRanjit rang the bell in Toronto years ago and entered our home and my life with an irascibility that was such a huge part of his nature, creativity and charm. He ended up writing the script of my first feature film and starring in it as well,\u201d wrote Mehta.<\/p>\n

Sam and Me (1991) was a film based on the lives of Indian immigrants in Canada. \u201cRanjit managed by using his own experience as an outsider wanting to find his voice to great avail for the story. Sam and Me established him as a talent to reckon with in Canada,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

She worked with him in Fire (1996) where, according to her, he gave a \u201cmind blowing performance as the dark Mindy\u201d. This was followed by their last collaboration \u2014 the satirical Bollywood Hollywood (2002) where he played the trans Chauffeur Rocky.<\/p>\n

The highlight of his career in the last act was playing telemarketer Vikram in two episodes of the popular US series The Office alongside Steve Carell. \u201cThis guy made magic out of nothing, filling paper thin roles with so much depth,\u201d tweeted actor Poorna Jagannathan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was unpredictable, brilliant, and yet had a restlessness that\u2019s somehow evaded his desire to find a creative home\u2026 It\u2019s hard to believe that the irrepressible Ranjit Chowdhry is dead. His life as I knew it was Shakespearean in its scope. The other aspect of dark comedy was tragedy in his case. And that\u2019s what made him unique. He lived the enigma,\u201d wrote Mehta.<\/p>\n

Nair remembered him for being like no other. \u201cHe was unlike anyone. Noone had a razor sharp mind, a lacerating wit and be extraordinarily warm and most emotional\u2026 I am feeling robbed,\u201d she said. She is planning a virtual remembrance and tribute for him through Zoom. \u201cIt\u2019s the saddest time to go when there can be no gatherings and rituals to help us through this,\u201d she said. \u201cIn these surreal times, Ranjit\u2019s death adds to the uncertainty of life and the inevitability of our finite nature,\u201d wrote Mehta.<\/p>\n

Source: www.thehindu.com\/entertainment\/ranjit-chowdhry\/article31352649.ece<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His funeral will be held on April 16, and a gathering to celebrate his life and share his stories is scheduled for May 5 Film, television and theatre actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday at the age of 65. The viewers of Hindi films will remember him for the eternally boyish charm that he exuded on screen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1005],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tanqeed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}