Dr Haathi’s funeral has Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah team bidding Kavi Kumar Azad a tearful goodbye. See pics

The team Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah came together at Kavi Kumar Azad aka Dr Haathi’s funeral on Tuesday.(Viral Bhayani)

The Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah team came together at Kavi Kumar Azad aka Dr Haathi’s funeral at Mira Road, Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon. Kavi’s Taarak Mehta co-stars and the show’s producer Asit Kumar Modi were there to pay them his last respects, apart from the late actor’s family members. Among those who were present at the funeral included the show’s Champak Lal Gada (Amit Bhatt), Taarak Mehta (Shailesh Lodha), Anjali Taarak Mehta (Neha Mehta), Aatmaram Tukaram Bhide (Mandar Chandwarkar), Sonu (Nidhi Bhanushali), Roshan Singh Sodi (Gurucharan Singh), Roshan Singh Sodi (Jennifer Mistry), Popatlal Pandey (Shyam Pathak), Abdul (Sharad Sankla), Rita Reporter ( Priya Ahuja Rajda), Inspector Chalu Pandey ( Daya Shanker Pandey), Tapu (Bhavya Gandhi) and Pinku (Azhar Shaikh).

Best known for his portrayal of Dr Hansraj Haathi in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, Azad died suddenly Monday morning following a massive cardiac arrest. Kavi was not married and stayed with his mom, dad, sister and brother.

Kavi played the role of Dr Haathi on Taarak Mehta for nine years, having replaced actor Nirmal Soni, who played the role for a year since the show’s inception, in 2009. Apart from working on the small screen, he also featured in a few films including Aamir Khan’s Mela, Jodha Akbar and Funtoosh.

Shailesh Lodha who plays Taarak Mehta on the show at Dr Haathi’s funeral.

Taarak Mehta’s Roshan Singh Sodi (Gurucharan Singh) at Kavi Kumar Azad’s funeral. (Viral Bhayani)

Amit Bhatt who plays Champak Lal Gada on Taarak Mehta at the funeral. (Viral Bhayani)

Dr Haathi aka Kavi Kumar Azad’s funeral took place in Mumbai. (Viral Bhayani)

Tanmay Vekaria, Amit Bhat and Shyam Pathak who plays Popatlal on Taarak Mehta. (Viral Bhayani)

The last rites of Dr Haathi aka Kavi Kumar Azad. (Viral Bhayani)

Kavi had been unwell since the past three days but none of his colleagues expected the worst. Kavi was rushed to Wockhardt Hospital at Mira Road when he complained of uneasiness but was declared dead on arrival. Dr Hathi Of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah was cremated today in Mira Raod where he stays. the star cast of his show came to his funeral today. Dr. Hathi aka #KaviKumarAzad of #TaarakMehtaKaOoltahChashmah #rip 🙏🙏🙏🙏

A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani) on Jul 10, 2018 at 3:56am PDT

Family and friends mourn at the death of #KaviKumarAzad . Take care of your health and take life seriously. Stay healthy coz it only creates more pain for your dear ones. It's painful 🙏🙏#rip

A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani) on Jul 10, 2018 at 4:19am PDT

On Monday, Azad was unwell and was taken to Mumbai’s Wokhardt Hospital after he complained of discomfort. However, doctors announced him dead on arrival.

“We are very sad to inform loss of our senior actor Kavi Kumar Azaad. He was playing the character of Dr Hathi in Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma. We lost him to a massive cardiac arrest today morning. He was an amazing actor and a very positive person. He truly Loved the show and always came for the shoot even if he was not feeling well. He called today morning that he is not well and will not be able to come for shoot. And later we got the news that he passed away. We are all too numb to say anything,” the show’s producer, Asit Kumarr Modi, said in a statement.

Taarak Mehta’s rep also revealed that despite being unwell for the last few days, Kavi was still reporting for the shoot of the show. “He spoke to Asit on phone that he won’t be coming for the shoot today as he was unwell. He has been unwell for the last few days but was still reporting for work.”

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