Bollywood’s favourite Aunty Shammi passes away

MUMBAI: Veteran character actress for nearly six decades, Shammi Rabadi passed away at her home here late on Monday, a family friend said. She was 87.

Shammi, whose real name was Nargis, was a Parsi and the former wife of legendary Bollywood filmmaker, the late Sultan Ahmed.

The news came in during the early hours of Tuesday and some of the celebrities have taken to social media to express their grief over her death.

Her co-star in 1992’s ‘Khuda Gawah’, Amitabh Bachchan was among the first few to share the news and praised her for her contribution to the Indian film industry.

Taking to Twitter, the megastar wrote, “Shammi Aunty .. prolific actress, years of contribution to the Industry, dear family friend .. passes away ..!! A long suffered illness, age ..Sad .. slowly slowly they all go away …”

Sunil Dutt’s daughter and Ex-member of Parliament Priya Dutt posted a throwback picture of ‘Shammi aunty’ along with her mother Nargis and tweeted: “Shammi aunty to me and a great actor of yesteryears passed away today. She was my mother’s dear friend and someone we all loved very much. May her soul rest in peace and her laughter and contagious smile rock the heavens. Be In peace with your friends.”

She became a popular character artist portraying supporting roles of aunt, granny, elder spinster in the family, et al, besides acting for television serials.

Earlier, the actress was known to play pivotal roles in popular TV shows such as ‘Zabaan Sambhal Ke’, ‘Kabhi Yeh Kabhi Woh’, ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’, and ‘Filmy Chakkar’, alongside Indian cinema.

She was last seen in Farah-Khan-Boman Irani’s outing, ‘Shirini Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’ in 2013.

According to Bollywood personality Ashok Shekhar, she had been ailing since some time. She breathed her last at her Juhu Circle home.

As per various reports, her last rites will be performed at the Oshiwara cemetery in the noon hours of Tuesday, Shekhar told IANS.

With agencies input