Veteran Indian actress Shammi passes away

Veteran Indian TV actress Shammi has passed away after a prolonged illness. She was 89. Famed fashion designer Sandeep Khosla broke the news this morning.

The actress, who was popular for her comic roles, had appeared in over 200 films that included ‘Coolie No 1’, ‘Hum’, ‘Gopi Kishan’, ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ over her long film career.

She also had an illustrious career on television and starred in a number of shows on Doordarshan.

Designer Sandeep took to social media early Tuesday morning to make the announcement by sharing a picture of the star along with the caption, “we will miss you #you #will #always #remain #special #to #us #RIP #ShammiAunty #1929-2018 #loveyou #abujanisandeepkhosla #bestfriend #guide #family.”

T 2735 – Shammi Aunty .. prolific actress, years of contribution to the Industry, dear family friend .. passes away ..!!
A long suffered illness, age ..
Sad .. slowly slowly they all go away .. pic.twitter.com/WYvdhZqo8X

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 6, 2018

Bollywood’s megastar Amitabh Bachchan later took to his social media handle to share the solemn news in a tweet that read, “Shammi Aunty… prolific actress, years of contribution to the Industry, dear family friend… passes away ..!! A long suffered illness, age… Sad… slowly, slowly they all go away…”

T 2735 – Prayers and fond remembrances for Shammi Aunty .. so dear to us as family .. lost to us today ..🙏
some early pictures as a young entrant to films .. and one with Nargis ji at an event ; Shammi Aunty’s real name was also Nargis ! pic.twitter.com/pfgzd1Tff3

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 6, 2018

Rajesh Khanna also helped her make her debut on television. TV series Dekh Bhai Dekh, which ran for a year after debuting in 1993, was produced by Jaya Bachchan and had Shammi play the role of “chhoti nani.” Between 1990-2000, she also featured in other successful TV series like Zabaan Sambhal Ke, Kabhi Yeh Kabhi Who and Shriman Shrimati.

RIP to veteran actress, Shammi Ji (1929-2018); almost 225 movies over 6 decades (1951-2012)#Shammi #RIPShammi@SrBachchan @chintskap @AzmiShabana @TheFarahKhan @SimplySajidK pic.twitter.com/aLCl4t6gal

— Movies N Memories (@BombayBasanti) March 6, 2018

Shammi, a Parsi, appeared in many popular television serials such as Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhal Ke, Shriman Shrimati, Kabhi Yeh Kabhi Woh and Filmi Chakkar.

Shammi was married to film producer-director Sultan Ahmed for seven years before they were divorced. Her first film as a solo heroine was Malhar, which was produced by playback singer Mukesh.

Shammi was last seen in 2013 film Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi, in which she played the role of a Parsi woman.