Mumbai: Asrani was a famous comedy artist of Bollywood, who made the audience laugh for more than 50 years. Born on January 1, 1941 in Jaipur, Asrani worked in about 350 films. He died on 20 October 2025, but the stories that happened on his sets will always be remembered.
Got inspiration from Hitler
Asrani got a small role of a jailer on the sets of the film ‘Sholay’ (1975). Director Ramesh Sippy said that this role should be from the British era. Asrani himself watched old videos of Hitler and copied his style. The way of walking, shaking hands and speaking dialogues are all like Hitler. Everyone on the set burst into laughter. His dialogue ‘We are jailers of the British era’ is famous even today. Asrani had said that this role was so small, but the body language made it immortal.
First meeting with wife on set
Asrani’s first meeting with his wife Manju was on the sets of the film ‘Aaj Ki Taja Khabar’, where first they became friends and then their love blossomed on the sets of ‘Namak Haram’. Later both of them got married. Asrani has a son named Naveen.
Storm of laughter on the set with Jaya Bachchan
According to media reports, once Asrani and Jaya Bachchan were together during the shooting of the film ‘Gupta Ji Ki Bhabhi’ or something similar. In the scene, Asrani had to show anger on Jaya, but both of them laughed so much that it took 20 takes. Asrani teased Jaya and Jaya responded by making fun of him. The director got angry, but the atmosphere on the set became happy. Asrani told in an interview that working with Jaya was always fun, like having a sister in the house.
example of friendship
Asrani has worked with Rajesh Khanna in about 25 films, such as ‘Aan Milo Sajna’ and ‘Mera Naam Joker’. The two were so close on the sets that Rajesh Khanna called Asrani his ‘brother’. There is an incident when Rajesh Khanna fell ill on the sets of ‘Mera Naam Joker’. Asrani took care of him, gave him medicine and waited until the scene was shot. Asrani had said that only friendship on the set works wonders.