Actor Ghanshyam Nayak, nicknamed Nattu Kaka, died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer. His co-stars from the program ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’, actor Dilip Joshi, actress Munmun Dutta, actor Bhavya Gandhi, and creator Asit Kumarr Modi, paid homage to him during his burial yesterday.
Dutta also paid homage to the veteran actor on social media. She talked about their connection and provided information about their last encounter while sharing numerous photos with Nayak.
“The first picture is the last time that I met him. His fighting spirit and inspirational words, in the face of adversity , is what I remember the most. He said 2 shlokas in Sanskrit to tell us how his pronunciation is absolutely perfect and clear after recovering from chemo and we gave him a standing ovation on the set (sic),” she wrote.
Ghanshyam was on set after recuperating from chemotherapy, according to the Bengali actress, and to prove that he was OK, he performed a few Sanskrit shlokas on set. She said that the crew was so delighted with his performance that they gave him a standing ovation.
Munmun went on to discuss her relationship with Nattu Kaka, joking that he would affectionately refer to her as ‘dikri,' a Gujarati word meaning daughter. She said that the previous year had been difficult for him because of his treatment, but he wanted to keep working and being positive. The actress, who said she was privileged to have known him, said that paradise has just gotten brighter with the addition of Nayak.
Tanmay Vekaria, who played Nattu Kaka's nephew Baaga on the programme, also talked to the media and revealed that the legendary musician had recently been in a lot of suffering. He said how Nattu Kaka couldn't eat anything for the last few months, which caused him to become irritable.
“He was in a lot of pain since the last 2-3 months and I feel now he is in a better place. I would often speak to his son and he would tell me that he was in immense pain and had become cranky because of it. He was not able to gulp, eat or even drink water. He was going through a lot, so in a way now he is in the safe hands of God. May his soul rest in peace,” he told ETimes. Vekaria is recovering from malaria and therefore he couldn’t even see off Nayak.
