Veteran actor-film-maker Deven Varma, best know for his comic performance in ‘Khatta Meetha’ and ‘Angoor’, passed away on Tuesday morning at his residence follo-wing a heart attack, family sources said.
He was 78. Varma started his acting career as a stage artist and eventually made his Bollywood debut with a supporting role in Yash Chopra’s ‘Dharmputra’ in 1961, which did not do well.
He shot to fame with his performance in 1975 film ‘Chori Mera Kaam’, which bagged him his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian. Varma went on to star in memorable films like ‘Chor Ke Ghar Chor’, Sanjeev Kapoor-starrer ‘Angoor’, ‘Gol Maal’, ‘Khatta Meetha’, ‘Naastik’, ‘Rang Birangi’, ‘Dil’, ‘Judaai’, ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ and ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’.
His dual role of Bahadur in Gulzar’s 1982 film ‘Angoor’, is consi-dered as one of the most loved comic roles in Hindi cinema. Varma, who was mar-ried to Ashok Kumar’s daughter Rupa Gang-uly, turned producer with ‘Yakeen’ in 1969 and also took to direction two years later with ‘Nadaan’.
He produced and directed Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Besharam’ in 1978. He also acted in Marathi and Bhojpuri films.
Known as a man of principles, he refused to act in roles that demanded poking fun on handicapped and phy-sically compro-mised people, earning respect in the film industry. (PTI)
