Veteran actress Shammi passes away at 89, Big B, others mourn her death
Mumbai: Veteran Bollywood actress Shammi, known as Shammi aunty to industry folks, passed away at the age of 89.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, designer Sandeep Khosla and former Member of Parliament Priya Dutt were among those who expressed their grief over her death on social media early on Tuesday.
Shammi, aunty to me and a great actor of yesteryears passed away today. She was my mother's dear friend and someone we all loved very much. May her soul rest in peace and her laughter and contagious smile rock the heavens. Be In peace with your friends pic.twitter.com/jFfpmUfVoP
— Priya Dutt (@PriyaDutt_INC) March 6, 2018
Shammi had worked in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer ‘Khuda Gawah’ and it was only a few days ago that his other co-star from the film, Sridevi has passed away.
Bachchan called her a ‘prolific actress’ and a ‘dear family family friend’, praised her for her years of contribution to the film industry and also revealed how illness and age had caught up with her.
T 2735 - Shammi Aunty .. prolific actress, years of contribution to the Industry, dear family friend .. passes away ..!!
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 6, 2018
A long suffered illness, age ..
Sad .. slowly slowly they all go away .. pic.twitter.com/WYvdhZqo8X
She had also worked in another Bachchan starrer ‘Hum’, which also featured Rajinikanth, Govinda, among others, and other popular films of all time like Govinda-David Dhawan's 'Coolie No 1', Mahesh Bhatt's 'Arth' and the multi-starrer 'The Burning Train.'
She also played crucial roles in popular TV shows ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’, ‘Zabaan Sambhal Ke’, ‘Shriman Shrimati,’ ‘Kabhi Yeh Kabhi Woh’ and ‘Filmi Chakkar.’
Her last major role was in the Boman Irani-Farah Khan starrer comedy ‘Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’ which had released in 2013.
She was known for her comic timing, though she played other kinds of roles as well, acting in over 100 films over the course of her career spanning more than five decades.
The last rites of the actress are reportedly said to take place at the Oshiwara crematorium in Mumbai at 1 pm on Tuesday.