13 Famous Bollywood Actors Who Were Not Alive To See Their Last Films

Om Puri, who is credited for redefining the Hindi cinema, passed away at the age of 66 years due to severe heart attack. His sudden passing away was a big blow for the Bollywood as well as for the filmmakers, who were about to work with him. The social satire drama ‘Ram Bhajan Zindabad’, the underwater war film 'The Ghazi Attack', Hollywood’s ‘Viceroys House’ and Kabir Khan’s humongous ‘Tubelight’ are the four major films to release post his death.

Farooq’s cherubic look struck a chord with ordinary people and for this reason, he became a popular celebrity (both as an actor and a television presenter) in no time. The versatile actor, breathed his last while on a vacation in Dubai on December 27, 2013 and one year later, his two films – ‘Youngistaan’ and ‘Children of War’ were released, though both of them didn’t witness a proper collection at box office.

‘Janleva Blackblood’ and ‘Riyasat’ were the two movies of Rajesh Khanna, which were shot between January-September 2011, that is before he was diagnosed with cancer. But, unfortunately only one of them (‘Riyasat’) got its release date and was available in theatres after two years of his demise i.e on July 18, 2014. The film didn’t go well with the movie-goers and bombed at the box office.

The good-looking hero of 1960s and 1970s, Joy Mukherji had resigned from acting long back but his last film ‘Love In Bombay’ made it to the theatres only after a span of 42 years. The movie was released by his sons, a year after he passed away. The actor breathed his last on March 9, 2012.

An eponymous of entertainment that the film industry has ever produced, Shammi Kapoor had taken a break from acting by the late 1990’s and early 2000s, though he appeared in small roles in three movies viz. ‘Jaanam Samjha Karo’ (1999), ‘Waah! Tera Kya Kehna’ (2002) and ‘Sandwich’ (2006). He made his last appearance alongside his grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor in ‘Rockstar’, for which he was not alive to see when it made to the theatres.

The favourite ‘Mogambo’ of all, Amrish Puri was laid to rest before the release of Subhash Ghai’s period drama ‘Kisna’ starring Vivek Oberoi. The film made a little more than 2 crores at the box office. In addition to this, he had another film ‘Kachchi Sadak’ in pipeline and this opened in theatres on September 8, 2006. Puri died due to cerebral haemorrhage on 12 January 2005.

She was only 19, when her sudden death had shocked the film industry. Divya’s unfortunate demise, turned out to be a disaster for many filmmakers as many projects were put on hold but on the other hand there were few like Talat Jani and Aziz Sejawal who earned big bucks with ‘Rang’ and ‘Shatranj’ respectively. These two blockbusters had hit the marquees after she died. She left this world on April 5, 1993.

Amjad Khan, who is till date remembered for giving Bollywood the most iconic villain of all time ‘Gabbar Singh’, had over ten of his releases in pipeline. But he could not see the destiny of either of these movies, following a serious heart attack which took his life away on 27 th July, 1992. ‘Rudaali’, ‘Do Funtoosh’, ‘Aatank’ and ‘Sautela Bhai’ were some of his posthumous films.

Considered as one of the finest actresses of her times, Patil began her acting career with Shyam Bengal’s ‘Charandas Chor’ and went on to appear in over 80 films. But, post marriage, the celebrated actress passed away due to childbirth complications on December 13, 1986. Along with her son Prateik Babbar, she left behind as many as 14 movies starring her in pivotal roles and these were released over the years. ‘Galiyon Ka Badshah’ was her last flick.

The multi-talented actor, Sanjeev Kumar is one of those actors who managed to pull-off non-glamorous roles with matchless ease and conviction. But his magic didn’t last long! He died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 47 (November 6, 1985) and a total of 10 of his pending films were released after his death. This includes, ‘Qatl’, ‘Raahi’, ‘Haathon Ki Lakeeren’ and ‘Baat Ban Jaye’ with ‘Professor Ki Padosan’ being the last one.

Hailing from Bhera, Pakistan, Balraj rose to stardom with Bimal Roy’s classic ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ which later became his true forte as an actor. The noted personality who had worked in over 50 films took his last breath on 13th of April, 1973 and post his death, a good number of films which comprised of ‘Pyar Ka Rishta’, ‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’, ‘Hanste Zakhm’ and the 47th Academy Award nominated ‘Garam Hawa’ were released.

Regarded as one of the greatest actresses of her era, Meena Kumari died of liver cirrhosis on 31st March, 1972 and her last project ‘Gomti Ke Kinare’ came out in cinema halls after seven months of her death. The movie could not cash in, owing to her untimely demise. Meena had become bedridden three weeks after the release of the cult classic ‘Pakeezah’ (4th February, 1972).

The ‘Venus of Indian Cinema’, Madhubala’s last action film ‘Jwala’ co-starring Sunil Dutt was released in 1971, i.e two years after her decease. She passed away on February 23, 1969 due to an incurable heart disease. In fact, owing to her bad health and other personal reasons, she had almost left Bollywood by the early 60’s. However in 1969, she returned and began her next inning by working in ‘Farz Aur Ishq’ but the film did not see the light of the day.