Bollywood’s multi-faceted talent Neeraj Vora, an actor, writer and director known for his humorous streak on and off screen, died in Mumbai early on Thursday, months after being comatose, his family member said.
Vora’s younger brother, Uttank Vora, said he died at 4am at an Andheri hospital. He was 54.
“He will be taken to Firoz Nadiadwala’s house, Barkat, from where he will be taken to the Santa Cruz Electric Crematorium at 3pm,” Uttank said.
Vora wrote Rangeela, directed Phir Hera Pheri and acted in Bol Bachchan among several other projects.
For months altogether, a room in filmmaker Nadiadwala’s home was converted into a fully functional ICU for Vora.
Nadiadwala mourned his demise, saying: “I’ve lost the battle to save my brother and friend from the clutches of death. His health had improved so much. But it deteriorated suddenly on Friday [December 8].”
“He had to be shifted to hospital. But it was of no use. We lost him.”
Born in a Gujarati family, Vora came to be known in the film industry for the way he tackled humour through his acting, writing and directorial projects.
He was also closely associated with theatre. In fact, Golmaal: Fun Unlimited, which started the hit comedy franchise, was based on the Gujarati play Aflatoon by Mihir Bhuta and Vora. They had adapted from it from Harsh Shivsharan’s original Marathi play Ghar-Ghar.
Vohra also acted on the small screen in shows such as Circus and Naya Nukkad. On the big screen, his credits included Daud: Fun on the Run, Hello Brother, Bol Bachchan and Welcome Back.
His writing credits include Akele Hum Akele Tum, Josh, Badshah, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Awara Paagal Deewana, Deewane Huye Paagal, Ajnabee, Hera Pheri and Phir Hera Pheri.
His directorial projects include Khiladi 420 and Phir Hera Pheri. He was to direct Hera Pheri III, but uncertainty loomed large over the project after he suffered a stroke in October 2016.
Early tributes and condolences to Vora from the film world included names like Paresh Rawal and Rahul Dholakia.
“Neeraj Vora — The writer and director of Phir Hera Pheri and many hit films is no more... Aum Shanti,” Rawal tweeted.
Actor Tusshara Kapoor said: “Shocked and saddened to hear of the demise of Neeraj Voraji. Had cast me for Golmaal and directed me in the unreleased Run Bhola Run. RIP sir.”
Dholakia described him as “one of India’s finest humorist screenwriter”, while actor Parvin Dabas said he was “one of the most brilliant comic minds in Hindi cinema”.
Actor Viveck Vaswani remembered Vora, with whom he was friends since they did Raju together.
Writer Milap Zaveri said: “You will surely make the heavens laugh.
Actor Akshay Kumar said he ventured into comedy because of Vora,
“One of the main reasons behind my foray into comedy, saddened to hear about the demise of Neeraj Vora a multi-talented man, writer, director, actor... A mini industry by himself, learnt so much from him. RIP,” Kumar tweeted.
He and Vora together have worked in films like Awara Paagal Deewana, Deewane Huye Paagal, Ajnabee and the Hera Pheri films.
