Taarak Mehta’s Jethalal Dilip Joshi shocked by Dr Haathi aka Kavi Kumar Azad’s death

Actor Dilip Joshi, who plays the central character Jethalal in TV show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, says that he is shocked by the news of Dr Haathi aka Kavi Kumar Azad. He said, “I am in London, I have no idea about this sad news. Even I am getting calls from everywhere and it is very shocking. I need to find out what happened.”

Dr Haathi is one of the primary characters on the show. He lives in the same Gokul Dham society of Mumbai which is at the centre of the affairs. This society inhabits people from all parts of India and is presented as a symbol of national integration.

Mandar Chandwadkar, who plays Bhide in the same show, also reacted to the news. he talked to Spotboye and said, “It’s such a shocking news. This morning we all were supposed to shoot for a sequence together at Filmcity. But then we came to know he is unwell so we decided to let him rest and go ahead with the scene without him. I will only say he completed all his work before leaving us. This was a fresh scene which we were supposed to shoot (crying). He didn’t leave anything incomplete. He was such a happy go lucky man. I still can’t believe that he is not with us. We used to sit together, eat together. As soon as he used to come, even before greeting us with a good morning, he used to ask, ‘Tiffin mein kya laya hai?’ He was a foodie in real life also. He is irreplaceable. Sahi maayane mein Azad ho gaya. I am sorry, I have to keep the phone, I can’t talk any more.”

The show’s producer, Asit Kumarr Modi, confirmed the news of the actor’s death. “We are very sad to inform loss of our senior actor Kavi Kumar Azaad. He was playing the character of Dr Haathi in Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma. We lost him to a massive cardiac arrest today morning. He was an amazing actor and a very positive person. He truly Loved the show and always came for the shoot even if he was not feeling well. He called today morning that he is not well and will not be able to come for shoot. And later we got the news that he passed away. We are all too numb to say anything,” Asit Kumarr Modi said in a statement.