Veteran actor Arun Bali passes away at 79

Veteran actor Arun Bali, known for his role as Kunwar Singh in the serial Swabhimaan, died in Mumbai on Friday. He was 79. His last film, Goodbye, will be released in theatres today. In the film, Arun plays the father of Neena Gupta, whose character passes away.

Earlier this year, Arun was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease and hospitalised. Member of CINTAA, Nupur Alankar, told ETimes then, "I was on call with Arun Bali sir when I sensed something is majorly wrong with his speech and pointed it out to him. After that I tried contacting his son Ankush, but couldn't get through. Then I called up Rajeev Menon who is Ankush's colleague and got his other number and I advised him to take Arun sir to the hospital immediately."

Arun’s daughter told Nupur that he has been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. Nupur had said, "Today I received a call from Arun ji's number... he couldn't speak clearly at all. His daughter Itishree informed me about his condition. I am truly concerned. I pray for his fast recovery."

Arun worked in several films and television series including the 1991 period drama Chanakya where he played King Porus. He also played the role of chief minister of undivided Bengal, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, in the film Hey Ram (2000).

Born in Jalandhar, Punjab in 1942, the actor is known for his performances in 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014), Airlift (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Panipat (2019) among many other films.