Mumbai: Anupamaa actor Nitesh Pandey passed away at the age of 51. After Vaibhavi Upadhyay and Aditya Singh Rajput, the television industry witnessed the third untimely demise as Nitesh passed away on Tuesday, May 23. A wave of sorrow engulfed the television industry after the news of Nitesh's demise surfaced earlier today.
According to reports, Nitesh suffered severe heart arrest late at night. He breathed his last in a hotel in Igatpuri, close to Nashik. A police team is questioning hotel employees and those close to the actor while a postmortem report is awaited. The late actor's family has left for Igatpuri to get his mortal remains.
Soon after news of Nitesh's passing surfaced, several celebrities took to social media to mourn his demise. Deven Bhojani, Gulshan Devaiah, and Suzanne Bernert were among the first to express grief over Nitesh's death.
Nitesh, who was most recently seen popular television drama Anupamaa, started his career in theater. In Anupama, he essayed the role of Dheeraj Kumar, a close friend of Gaurav Khanna played by Anuj Kapadia. In the past, he also appeared in shows like Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani, Manzilein Apani Apani, Justajoo, Durgesh Nandini amond others.
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The actor also featured in films like Om Shanti Om Khosla Ka Ghosla, and Badhaai Do. While his work in the National Award-winning film Khosla Ka Ghosla received widespread appreciation, his portrayal of a middle-class father who finds it difficult to accept his daughter's sexual orientation. The way he emulated how he later stands strong like a rock with his daughter played by Bhumi Pednekar won him applause.
He is now survived by his actress-wife Arpita Pandey. The two had met on a TV show Justajoo after which they got married in 2003. Nitesh was earlier married to actress Ashwini Kalsekar.
