2020 seems to be hitting Bollywood rather hard. On November 12, the film fraternity lost another talented actor – Asif Basra.
The 53-year-old actor reportedly died by suicide; found hanging at a private complex in Dharamshala. The investigation in the case is underway.
As reported by the Tribune India, Basra had leased two houses in Dharamshala and he was living in one of the houses with his UK-based girlfriend and a dog. The actor reportedly used his dog’s leash to hang himself and was first discovered by his girlfriend.
Celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Anushka Sharma lamented the loss of the late actor and offered their heartfelt condolences.
Here are 7 Asif Basra’s Movie and Series Roles:
1) Black Friday
In Anurag Kashyap’s film ‘Black Friday’ – based a book on the 1993 Bombay bombings, Asif played the role of Shanawaz Qureshi, who is one of the accused.
2) Jab We Met
Asif briefly starred in Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Jab We Met’. He was seen as an ‘ill-intentioned’ water vendor.
3) Once Upon A Time in Mumbai
Basra essayed the role of Inspector Hussain Khan in Milan Luthria’s cult gangster drama, ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’ starring Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Prachi Desai. Asif played the onscreen father to Emraan Hashmi’s Shoaib Khan.
4) Kai Po Che
Asif also starred in the late Sushant Singh Rajput’s 2013 debut movie, Kai Po Che. In the movie, Sushant’s character Ishaan coaches young cricketer Ali and Asif played the role of Nasir, the young boy’s father.
5) The Tashkent Files
Asif played the role of a journalist, a news channel editor, in the controversial 2019 movie The Tashkent Files, based on the death of India’s former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
In conversation with TOI, his Tashkent Files director Vivek Agnihotri revealed – “I found him quite fine when he did ‘Tashkent Files’, he was a bit bitter about Bollywood but then I guess many of us are, even I am.”
He further went on to say, “We simply used to talk about how we don’t take good actors seriously in our industry. He used to say yahan ya to phir star hota hai ya everybody else hota hai. Supporting actors are not supported. He had issues about that. But that’s true. I agreed with him.”
6) Paatal Lok
Asif Basra also starred in four episodes of the Amazon Prime thriller series ‘Paatal Lok’. He played the role of journalist Jai Malik.
7) Hostages 2
Asif Basra was also seen in Hotstar Special web series ‘Hostages 2’, directed by Sudhir Mishra. The series starred actors like Ronit Roy and Tisca Chopra. Asif played the role of a convicted killer who is also a skilled surgeon, helping Ronit Roy’s character in his quest.
May he rest in peace!