Actor Lily Chakraborty remembers co-star Vinod Khanna as a jovial and down-to-earth...

The news of Vinod Khanna’s demise has pained his industry colleagues. Actor Lily Chakraborty (75), who had worked with the actor in Gulzar’s Achanak (1973) and Raj N Sippy’s Inkaar (1978), remembers him as wonderful actor and a genuine human being.

“I was new to the industry (Bollywood) when I was working with him (late Vinod Khanna) in Achanak. He was a down-to-earth person who was good to everyone. He never treated me as a newcomer, rather, was always there for me whenever I needed any help,” says Chakraborty, who has also worked in films such as Chupke Chupke (1975), Alaap (1977) and Ek Din Achanak (1990).

Veteran Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna breathed his last at 11.20 am on Thursday at Mumbai’s HN Reliance Hospital. He was 70. The actor was suffering from advanced bladder carcinoma (bladder cancer).

Sharing more memories of working with the late actor, Chakraborty adds that he was a jovial soul. “He has this unique quality of getting close to people. On the set, he usually spent time chatting with the cast and the crew. I remember how we all laughed at his jokes,” she says.

Chakraborty shares that when she was offered Achanak, the fact the film is being directed by Gulzar and had late Vinod Khanna in it got her interested all the more. “It was not a regular film and he played his part really well. He was immensely talented as an actor. I feel today we have lost one of the best we had,” says Chakraborty.