Nitish Bharadwaj Was To Meet Gufi Paintal In Hospital Today, Says 'I'm So Sad But...' | Exclusive

Veteran actor Gufi Paintal passed away on Monday while in his sleep after his heart “gave up,” as stated by his nephew, Hiten Paintal. The late actor is survived by his son, daughter-in-law and a grandchild. The last rites will be held today at around 4 pm at a crematorium in suburban Andheri in Mumbai. He gained wide recognition and fame for his portrayal of Shakuni mama in BR Chopra’s popular television show, Mahabharat, which ran between 1988 and 1990.

In an exclusive chat with News18, veteran actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who played Lord Krishna in the television series, recalls some of his fondest moments with Gufi, who was also the casting director of Mahabharat. “As struggling actors, we would take our pictures to him and tell him, ‘Gufi ji, kaam do, kaam do.’ He would say, ‘Haan yaar, kuch karta hoon… Ravi (Chopra; filmmaker) ji ke saamne photo rakhta hoon.’ While I was developing my character of Krishna, he along with Ravi Chopra was very appreciative of my work. Later, we developed a very good friendship. When I directed my first feature film in Marathi, he was there for the trials. He was very generous and always respected my work. He was very senior to me but he never behaved like one,” he elaborates.

Speaking about Gufi’s memorable portrayal of Shakuni mama, Nitish says, “As Shakuni, he used to walk with a limp and the genesis of that was the fact that his hip was in pain. Ravi ji decided to use that injury as a physical trait for Shakuni’s character. He had to live through that injury to play his character and that was quite a big deal.”

Unlike the equation shared by Krishna and Shakuni, the duo shared an easy and warm camaraderie in real life. Shedding light on the same, the Kedarnath (2018) and Mohenjo Daro (2016) actor tells us, “When I was cast as Krishna in Mahabharat, we shared a relationship full of hate onscreen. As a human being, Gufi was a simple and encouraging man. After a rough patch in his career, he had just about started doing a play on Mahabharat and relived the joy of playing Shakuni. He was enjoying doing his play. Our friendship was so jovial that I could say anything to him even though he was so senior.”

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Nitish goes on to reveal that he spoke to Gufi’s son yesterday and that he was supposed to visit his friend and colleague this evening at the hospital where he was admitted. “I’m travelling and I’m supposed to reach Bombay today. I spoke to his son yesterday and he told me that the doctors are saying he would recover. This evening, I was supposed to go and see him at Bellevue Hospital,” he says.

Still reeling from the news of Gufi’s passing, he adds, “Friends leaving you is always sad. When I look back at my life, I think friends are the most cherished treasure that I’ve earned. When a friend goes away, it feels like a part of you is gone. I’m so sad but I’ve to accept it. He passed away too quickly. This wasn’t a time for him to go. I do remember the teachings of Bhagwad Gita – that anything that is born has to die and anything that dies will be reborn. If any of his desires are left incomplete, I would want him to come back and fulfil them.”

Reminiscing his last conversation with Gufi, Nitish emotionally says, “I spoke to him a month ago. He was very keen that I play Krishna in his play. He had been asking me to do it for a long time but I’ve been saying a no. He called me up and told me, ‘Arrey yaar, tu toh karle, maza aa jaayega.’ We hardly had any scenes together in Mahabharat. We were dying to share screen space with one another. But I had to tell him a no again because I was doing my own play, Chakravyuh and I didn’t want both of them to clash.”