Pooja Bhatt pays moving tribute to Bikramjeet Kanwarpal: ‘Thank you for the camaraderie, love, respect and especially the memories’

Pooja Bhatt remembered actor Bikramjeet Kanwarpal after the actor passed away due to the coronavirus. On Sunday, Pooja Bhatt took to Instagram and recalled the first time she met Bikramjeet Kanwarpal and how she was stunned to know that an ex-Army officer wanted to become an actor.

Calling Bikramjeet Kanwarpal “the most earnest looking person”, Pooja wrote, “I met Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal in 2002 by chance at my office in Khar. He had come in without an appointment & it so happened that I was in the garden feeding my fish when I turned and locked eyes with the most earnest looking person I had met in a while. He introduced himself as an ex-army officer who now wants to be an actor. ‘Why?’ Was my immediate response. ‘It’s a chaotic world in comparison to the army.’ He looked at me with the most beseeching, gentle eyes ‘It’s my dream Mam’ he said. I melted. And cast him on the spot for my film PAAP without so much as an audition.”

Pooja said that when she saw on the news that Bikramjeet passed away due to Covid-19, she was “stunned.”

At that moment, the actor began reminiscing about the Spiti schedule of Paap and pulled out an album gifted by Bikramjeet as a mark of their shared memories.

“My mind went back to our schedule in Spiti and I stumbled to a large trunk and pulled out a gift he gave me at the end of the film- a painstakingly put together photo album of the trip… memories to cherish forever. Today I flip through the album with gratitude & yet another reminder that life is precious and way too short..Salutations Major Bikramjeet and thank you for the camaraderie, love, respect & especially the memories. I shall hold onto them until I become a memory in someone’s head and heart myself! (sic)” Bhatt concluded the post.

Soni Razdan commented on the post and wrote, “Yes it came as a terrible shock. This album really sums up Bikramjeet so well. A true officer gentleman and sweet sweet man. What a lovely thing to do.”

Bikramjeet Kanwarpal passed away on Friday due to Covid-19 complications at the age of 52. He made his acting debut in 2003 after retiring from the Indian Army. He starred in films like Page 3, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Aarakshan, Murder 2, 2 States and The Ghazi Attack among others.

On television, he played prominent roles in shows like Diya Aur Baati Hum, Yeh Hai Chahatein, Dil Hi Toh Hai and Anil Kapoor’s 24. He was last seen in Disney Plus Hotstar’s popular web series Special Ops.