Veteran actor Arun Bali, who impressed audiences with his performances in many Bollywood films, passed away on October 7, at 4.30 am in Mumbai after suffering from prolonged age-related illness.
Bali was 79 and was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular problem Myasthenia Gravis earlier this year. The autoimmune disorder leads to a communication failure between nerves and muscles.
The actor last appeared in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Goodbye, which will be released today. He was seen in Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha.
From TV to films
Bali was born in Jalandhar, Punjab, in 1942. He debuted on Indian television as an actor in 1989 with Doosra Kewal. He played the role of superstar Shah Rukh Khan's uncle in the TV show by noted filmmaker Lekh Tandon.
He was known for his performance as King Porus in the 1991 period drama Chanakya. He also played the role of Kunwar Singh in the Doordarshan soap opera Swabhimaan. Bali essayed the role of chief minister of undivided Bengal, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, in the critically acclaimed film Hey Ram released in 2000.
One of his most popular roles was that of Harshvardhan Wadhwa in the TV show Kumkum.
Apart from this, Bali acted in 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014), Airlift (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Panipat (2019).
Nupur Alankar, a member of television artistes CINTAA and a close friend of Bali, told ETimes in January this year that she had sensed something wrong with Bali's speech and pointed it out to him. She also tried to contact his son Ankush, but was unable to do it initially. However, later they connected and she advised Ankush to take Bali to the hospital.
