Rani Mukerji on Pradeep Sarkar’s death, “This is just so unexpected, we were planning to meet” : Bollywood News

The passing away of filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar has come as a shock to the people from the film industry who knew and had worked with him. This includes Rani Mukerji, who was directed by Sarkar in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Mardaani. The actress has expressed grief and shock at the demise of the filmmaker and shared that she spoke with him just recently and they had planned to meet.

Rani Mukerji on Pradeep Sarkar’s death, “This is just so unexpected, we were planning to meet”

“I’m very, very shocked by the news of Dada’s passing away,” said Rani in a statement. “I, in fact, spoke to him just the other day when I had gone to Amritsar, to the Golden Temple where he had called me telling me about my film, so we had a long chat. He was insisting to do a Facetime call but that day the network was not good, so I was unable to video call with him. We were planning to meet this week when I got back but it is just so unexpected.”

Rani got to know about Sarkar’s death in the wee hours of the morning. She said, “His wife (Panchali boudi) called me at 4 am when this happened. It is really sad and shocking that dada has passed away like this. Boudi had informed me that he was on remission and he was all okay. He was also shooting these last few days, so I don’t know how it all transpired in just a matter of a few hours.”

Apart from the two movies he did with Rani, Sarkar was also known for his successful and acclaimed Bollywood debut with Parineeta in 2005. The film was based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Bengali novel of the same name and it was the launch for Vidya Balan while it also starred Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt.

Sharing her equation with the late filmmaker, Rani added, “I’m sure everybody who knows Dada will feel his loss deeply the way I’m feeling it. I had a great connection with him. We’ve done a lot of work together over the years, so it’s literally like losing a family member. My heart goes out to Boudi, Ronno and Raya as they were a very close-knit family and to all the people who worked in Dada’s production house and those who have been attached to him over the years. It’s going to be a great loss for them.”

She added, “So I’m really very saddened by this because I was meant to meet him soon, so I feel terrible about it. You never realise how life is so unpredictable. You speak to a person and the next thing you know is that the person is not there. I will hold on to my last memory of him being so happy and excited for me as he had called me to share the feedback that he was getting for my film and me from all over.”

Pradeep Sarkar’s last rites will be performed today at Santacruz, Mumbai.

Also Read: Parineeta filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar passes away at 67