Dr Hansraj Hathi aka Kavi Kumar Azad no more: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah cast offers condolences, Jethalal shockedJuly 9 (AZINS) TV actor Kavi Kumar Azad, best known for his role of Dr Hansraj Haathi in the long-running sitcom 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah', passed away on July 9 after suffering a cardiac arrest. Azad was rushed to Mumbai’s Wokhardt Hospital after he complained of discomfort but doctors announced him dead on arrival. Reports suggest that a post-mortem is being conducted.

The show’s producer, Asit Kumarr Modi, confirmed the news of the actor’s death. “We are very sad to inform loss of our senior actor Kavi Kumar Azaad. He was playing the character of Dr Hathi in Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma. We lost him to a massive cardiac arrest today morning. He was an amazing actor and a very positive person. He truly Loved the show and always came for the shoot even if he was not feeling well. He called today morning that he is not well and will not be able to come for shoot. And later we got the news that he passed away. We are all too numb to say anything,” Asit Kumarr Modi said in a statement.

Actor Dilip Joshi, who plays the central character Jethalal in the show is shocked by the news of his co-star's sudden demise. He said, “I am in London, I have no idea about this sad news. Even I am getting calls from everywhere and it is very shocking. I need to find out what happened.”

The team also posted an obituary for their beloved actor on their official twitter account -

Mandar Chandwadkar, who plays Bhide in the same show, also reacted to the news. “It’s such a shocking news. This morning we all were supposed to shoot for a sequence together at Filmcity. But then we came to know he is unwell so we decided to let him rest and go ahead with the scene without him. I will only say he completed all his work before leaving us. This was a fresh scene which we were supposed to shoot (crying). He didn’t leave anything incomplete."

"He was such a happy go lucky man. I still can’t believe that he is not with us. We used to sit together, eat together. As soon as he used to come, even before greeting us with a good morning, he used to ask, ‘Tiffin mein kya laya hai?’ He was a foodie in real life also. He is irreplaceable. Sahi maayane mein Azad ho gaya. I am sorry, I have to keep the phone, I can’t talk any more,” He told SpotBoye.

While talking to IANS, actor Samay Shah, who plays Gogi in the sitcom, said, "He always motivated me to work hard. He also has an eating joint called Kusum Rolls. He used to ask me to get him Jain food and I used to tell him to include Jain food in Kusum Rolls' menu."

"His death news came as a shock to all of us. It happened suddenly. He used to feel unwell on the set sometimes. He used to be down with fever or have weakness. But he never let the show's shooting get effected. He used to shoot his part first," he said.

Kavi played the role of Dr Haathi for almost eight years. Apart from television, he had also done character roles in Aamir Khan's Mela and Funtoosh.