1-Year After Dr Hathi's Death: Void Unfilled; Dilip Joshi, Ambika Ranjankar, Gurucharan Singh, Samay Shah From Taarak Mehta Show Get Tearful

It has been exactly a  year that Dr Hathi of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah aka Kavi Kumar Azad left the world of living. SpotboyE.com was the first one to tell you about his sad demise on July 9. The actor died following a massive cardiac arrest. The news came as a shock to everyone, including his fans and onscreen family- some of whom had spoken to us exclusively then, sharing their grief. Secretary Bhide (Mandar Chandwadkar) had got tearful. Tapu Sena had screamed aloud, "We will miss you Azaad Uncle", Jethalal (Dilip Joshi) said he was shaken up (in London). And, the funeral videos made us cry when we saw his father and mother hugging him during his last rites. 

We had also brought you an exclusive interview with Dr Muffi Lakdawala who had operated him for bariatric surgery, plus the lesser known fact that Salman Khan bore all his hospital expenses at that time. And then we also told you exclusively that actor Nirmal Soni who earlier played Dr.Hathi before Kavi stepped in, will return to the show.

Recently, we spoke to a few members of Taarak Mehta show about Kavi. Tomorrow is his 1st death anniversary.  This is what they had to say:

Dilip Joshi ( Jethalal):

It's been a year but we are unable to accept the fact that he is not in our midst anymore. Whenever I see Nirmal walking towards me wearing the same costume, I feel that its not Nirmal but Azad bhai. We miss Azad bhai so much that I can't even express it. I still remember I was in London when this tragedy happened and I got a call about his demise. I couldn't believe it until Champak Lal (Amit Bhatt) and Asit Modi (producer) called up to convey the same; I felt pairo tale zamin khisak rahi thi. Kavi was such a fun-loving and lively person. There are so many moments which are still fresh in my mind- like he used to get ready and come to sit in my room. I used to pull his leg: Why do you keep coming to my room when you have your own? And he used to shoot back,  'Tujhe kya karna hai? Main toh Dilip Sir se milne aaya hoon". We still recall many of his moments and laugh--- but feel emotionally shattered the very next moment.

Ambika Ranjankar ( Komal):

He is not with us physically but all his memories are still very very fresh in our minds. I am sure he is having a great time looking at us. I miss the leg-pulling he used to do on the sets. The last time I saw him, he was smiling was on my birthday last year (July 7).  I still visualise his happy face.

Malav Rajda (Director):

There is not a single day I don't miss Kavi Bhai. It has been a year but I still can't enter his make up room. Nirmal has replaced him on the show, and as we say the show must go on--- but replacing him as a person is impossible. He was such a foodie, I tell you. We all used to have food together in our lunch-break and he literally knew what everyone on the set had got in his tiffin. I remember one incident when we ordered some chicken and he was asking for a piece. We were purposely ignoring him and suddenly he put his entire hand in the gravy to take a chicken piece, that's how badly he wanted it.

Samay Shah (Gogi):

Azad uncle is someone whom we can never forget. We still feel that incompleteness on our set. I still remember the moment when just a day before his death he asked me for a sandwich and we had it together. Believe me, he was such a sweet person that whosoever used to feel hungry would knock his door. He used to ask me to get him Jain food and I got it many a times. But the last time he asked for Jain food was just one day before his death--- and I still feel so bad that I was unable to fulfill his last wish. Tapu Gang still mimics him on the set. Azad uncle used to give us chocolates, toffees and now we don't have anyone on the set who can pamper us like that. Whenever we bachcha party do a scene together the only thing we discuss is him, that's how cute he was!.

Gurucharan Singh (Sodhi):

I miss Azad so much that my Whatsapp DP is still with him, so that he always stays with me. We shared not only a very good rapport but also our birth date which is May 12.  I used to get parathas for him and used to scream, "Laale di jaan, aaja parathe aagaye, parathe. You know he came back to life from near-death once before. Wherever he's now, we remember him with immense love and respect." 


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