Sidharth Malhotra attends late actor Pankaj Dheer's funeral

Mumbai, Oct 15 (IANS) Bollywood star Sidharth Malhotra attended the funeral of veteran actor Pankaj Dheer, who passed away on the 15th of October – Wednesday.

The actor dressed in a simple white shirt and blue jeans was seen meeting with Pankaj’s son and actor Nikitin Dheer, further offering condolences to the bereaved family. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan also attended the funeral around the same time to pay his last respects to the late actor.

For the uninitiated, Pankaj Dheer has been battling cancer for quite some time now. For the treatment, he had recently undergone a major operation. The actor was popular for his character as Karn in the TV series Mahabharat. The late actor’s son Nikitin Dheer has also worked with Sidharth in the movie "Shershah".

Pankaj Dheer’s funeral was held at Pawan Hans Crematorium in the Vile Parle West area of Mumbai. Actor Mukesh Rishi was also seen at the cremation ground and paid his last respects to the veteran actor. Pankaj was 68 years old at the time of passing away. His co-star Feroz Khan, who was seen as Arjunn in Mahabharat earlier in the day, had taken to his social media account to offer condolences to Dheer.

He wrote, "Gentleman!!! Bids goodbye (teary-eyed emoji) will miss you PD (broken heart emoji) stay blessed (sparkle emojis)", and even dropped a throwback picture posing with the late actor. The official Instagram account of CINTAA (Cine & TV Artistes’ Association) posted a note on the platform informing about the actor's demise.

In an official statement shared by them on their social media account, they wrote, "CINTAA and CAWT mourn the loss of Shri Pankaj Dheer ji, former General Secretary of CINTAA and former Chairman of CAWT — a respected member of our fraternity whose invaluable contributions to Indian cinema and television will always be remembered."

Funeral today at 4:30 PM at Pawan Hans Crematorium, Vile Parle (W). Om Shanti". Pankaj Dheer is survived by wife Aneeta, his actor son Nikitin Dheer, and actress daughter-in-law Kratika Sengar.

--IANS

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