Pradeep Rawat Dies At 74: The 'Ghajini' Villain Who Reinvented His Career in South Indian Cinema (X)
Mumbai: Veteran actor Pradeep Rawat, who had acted in in Aamir Khan's 'Ghajini' and BR Chopra's 'Mahabharat'a, has died aged 74 due to cancer. The actor died in the evening of Tuesday in the hospital of Mumbai. The news of his death was revealed by his co-actor from 'Lagaan', Yashpal Sharma, and after one day the veteran actor also disclosed the information regarding Pradeep's last rites.
As per reports, Pradeep Rawat was diagnosed with blood cancer five years back. His health condition was improving after his treatment; however, the disease reappeared a few months back. It is reported that the actor was admitted to the hospital a couple of months back, and he was in a critical state since a few days back. Finally, the veteran actor breathed his last on Tuesday night.
As per the post shared by the actor Yashpal Sharma, the funeral ceremony of Pradeep Rawat will take place on Wednesday at Goregaon, Mumbai.
In the Instagram post is a loving obituary which says that, "With deep grief, we announce that our dear departed Pradeep Singh Rawat is now gone to his heavenly abode. You are respectfully requested to attend the last viewing and last rights ceremony of our departed dear one."
The veteran actor has not only worked in Hindi films but also in various regional languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. Pradeep Rawat has made his film debut in Mahabharata where he has acted as Ashwatthama. Later, he has worked in various Hindi films and TV serials. But there was a stage in life when he decided to change his field towards the South Indian film industry.
Pradeep Rawat has worked in some South Indian films too, mainly in the role of a villain. The first thing that happened with him in the South Indian film industry was that he worked with the legendary S.S.Rajamouli of Indian cinema. In 2004, the director made a film named Sye in which he played the role of Bhikshu Yadav and won an award. He then joined for the Tamil film Ghajini in which he acted as the villain which went on to become a Hindi hit.
A few years ago, Pradeep Rawat revealed about his reasons for leaving Hindi film industry and going to the South. The veteran actor said that actors of the south earn many times more than Bollywood actors. He said, "Now, actors are paid more in the south than in Mumbai, if they get Rs 100 in Mumbai, they will get Rs 300 in the south. There's a triple difference."
"In Bollywood you have to ask for payment but in the south the actors will be paid Rs 3 lakh per day if they work in Mumbai they are paid Rs 1 lakh per day." Pradeep Rawat said that he didn't ever demand any money from Maddock Films in advance. He was at that time busy on Vicky Kaushal's Chawa which he termed as his best set experience after Lagaan.
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