Producer-director Rajkumar Kohli passes away

Producer-director Rajkumar Kohli, who became synonymous with delivering blockbusters like 'Nagin' (1976) and 'Jaani Dushman' (1979), passed away at his Mumbai residence following a heart attack. He was 93. “Kohli-ji passed away peacefully. He had gone to take a shower in the morning and when he didn’t step out for a while, his son Armaan broke open the door and found him on the floor. A doctor came home and declared him dead,” family friend Vijay Grover said. In the Kohli universe, major stars often had minor parts. Nagin, a snake’s tale of revenge, was a mega-ensemble of seven heroes and five heroines. Unlike most thrillers of the time, the super hit had a woman protagonist. Jaani Dushman, another neatly crafted supernatural yarn, hosted a galaxy of stars including Sanjeev Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Neetu Singh, Rekha and Reena Roy.