Way back in his career, in fact as his first major film, Raju had worked in ex-Censor Chief and filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani’s ‘Mr Azad’. We spoke to Nihalani, a few minutes ago. He said that he is in a state of shock. “Raju was not an old man. To die at his age is shocking,” and then added, “He then made us laugh and is now making us cry.”
Nihalani says that people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are dropping dead left, right and centre, nowadays. “I am very concerned and I think everyone is. What on earth is happening around us? It is incomprehensible. Some people say that it is the side-effect of the booster dose of the vaccine. Some people say that people are doing too much of hardcore gymming. All said and done, these are tragic times.”