He is one of the few legends active in my time who I missed interviewing. We met at the wedding of late composer Laxmikant’s granddaughter, conversed for a couple of minutes, but could never connect for a long conversation. But Asrani, complete name Goverdhan Asrani, who takes credit for changing Hindi movie humor to the more refined and subtle, remains a legend, and a versatile one. Born January 1, 1941, he passed on at 84 on October 24, 2025, leaving the industry in shock.
Here are some remarkable facts about this comic who also excelled on occasion in dramatic or gray roles, and dazzled even if he had a single sequence in a film or a long role.
1. Internet Movie Database (IMDb) even credits him with ‘uncredited’ cameos in the late 1950s films Khota Paisa and Ujala!
2. After completing his education, the Jaipur-born Asrani began his career at All-India Radio as a voice artiste. He first learnt acting from Sahitya Kalabhai Thakkar from 1960 to 1962. He then travelled to Mumbai and struggled for a year. In 1963, after meeting filmmakers Kishore Sahu and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, he was advised to learn acting professionally by the latter and joined the Film & Television Institute in Pune in 1964.
3. Kishore Sahu gave him his first break playing the friend of Biswajeet in the 1967 Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan. In the film institute he had made his acting break as a hero in the same year with a Gujarati movie, and he acted in four Gujarati movies, as actor or supporting actor, between 1967 to 1969. Pushpanjali, Hum Kahan Ja Rahe Hain and Umang were his other films.
4. Hrishikesh Mukherjee then cast him in Dharmendra’s home production Satyakam. He got noticed with Mukherjee’s Guddi in 1971, and in the same year, he played a delinquent in the Mukherjee presentation, Mere Apne, directed by Gulzar.
5. A regular with Mukherjee since, he played an aspiring singer in Bawarchi, the hero’s friend in Abhimaan, a wastrel in Chaitali, the seemingly serious friend of the hero in Chupke Chupke and many more.
6 Gulzar, Basu Chatterjee and many others cast Asrani in their films frequently. Gulzar even ‘saw’ him as the evil brother in Koshish. Asrani later was to form a long-lasting clique with Rajesh Khanna and unconfirmed reports state that they worked together in about 25 films.
7 In the 1980s, Asrani became the darling of the South and corroborated on multiple films with Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor as a comic trio. This led to a parade of films with top South banners and directors as well as Jeetendra.
8 Asrani acted in several Gujarati films later, like Mota Gharni Vahu (1978) and even in a few South Indian films like Ninaithale Inikkum and Vaya Viramgam. In Gujarati films, he acted as the lead from 1972 to 1984 and performed character roles from 1985. His last release was Deda, which hit screens earlier this year.
10 His work also spans TV serials and web series from Natkhat Narad in the late 1980s to Hotel Kingston (2005) to Permanent Roommates, Partners, Ayodhya Ki Ramleela, Bloody Brothers and The Trial. He thus played Narad thrice, in Ayodhya Ki Ramleela, Narad Vivah and Natkhat Narad.
11 He also acted in two films each with the titles Hera Pheri (1976 and 2000) and Mehbooba (1976 and 2008) among his 350-plus films. But no national recognition came his way.
12 On the personal front, he married actress Manju Bansal, a well-known actress in the 1970s and 1980s. They fell in love during the making of Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar and later worked in several films together, including Namak Haram and Jurmana. Manju last returned to cinema to direct the devotional, Maa Ki Mamta in 1995. The couple has no children.
13. Incidentally, Asrani won the Filmfare Best Comedian award for Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar (1973). The film was based on a Gujarati play and the plot featuring Asrani was reworked by Rohit Shetty as an integral part of his Golmaal Returns. He also won the Best Comedian award for Balika Badhu (1976).
14. Showing his comic side to great effect, Asrani’s most popular role remains that of the jailor in Sholay, in which he parodied Hitler. Anhonee as Gangaram, the mental hospital inmate, his roles in Chhoti Si Baat and Chupke Chupke and many more, like his Parsi turn in Dhamaal. His ‘different’ roles included his triple lead in Hum Nahin Sudhrenge, a double role in Bidaai of a hippie and a villager and another in Barood, an antagonist in Ab Kya Hoga and Teri Meherbaniyan and a pimp in Premnagar. He also acted in the cross-over film, Ball & Chain.
15. In the latter part of his career that spanned from 1967 to current times, he excelled in Baghban, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Bol Bachchan.
16. One of his best performances came in Seeta Aur Geeta, wherein he made a very brief cameo as a gynecologist. He was hilarious and set the tone for that entertainer.
17. Asrani was thus an actor (lead and supporting), director (five films in Hindi, one in Gujarati and a TV serial), producer (Hum Nahin Sudhrenge), writer (Chala Murari Hero Banne) and singer (Alaap).
18. In Alaap, he sang two solos, Ho Rama darr lage apni umariya se and Binti sunle tanik natkhat gori, composed by Jaidev and written by Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza.
19. Musically, he was a part of some memorable songs, beginning with Zindagi hai kya (Satyakam). Chehera chhupa liya hai (Nikaah) and the unsung gem, Jhatpat ghunghat khol (with Kader Khan) in Sindoor was also filmed on him.
20. Asrani died with his boots on, for he was doing three films with Priyadarshan (Hera Pheri 3, Haiwan and Bhooth Bangla) among others.
