Praveen Kumar Sobti, champion athlete and Bhim of 'Mahabharat', passes away at 74
Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Feb, 2022 05:41 PM
New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) It was the punch he landed on Praveen Kumar Sobti that made Amitabh Bachchan's character deliver the famous dialogue from Tinnu Anand's super-hit movie 'Shahenshah': "Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap hote hain, naam hai Shahenshah! (Yes, I am your father. I am Shahenshah)" But Sobti, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74 in New Delhi, became briefly famous when he played the Pandava strongman Bhim in B.R. Chopra's iconic television serial 'Mahabharat'.
Before that, Sobti, who started his working life with the Border Security Force and towered at 6 feet 5 inches, earned laurels for India in discus throw and hammer throw, winning medals in three editions of the Asian Game -- a gold and a bronze in the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games, another gold in the 1970 Asiad, which was also held in Bangkok, and a silver at the 1974 Tehran Asiad
Sobti also won a silver at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, and represented the country at the Olympics in 1968 and 1972. He will, however, be remembered for his on-television characters -- Bhim in 'Mahabarat' and Saboo in the Raghubir Yadav-starrer 'Chacha Chaudhary', based on Pran Kumar Sharma's hugely popular comic-book series in Hindi.
Interestingly, his Chacha Chaudhary character was a giant alien from Jupiter, who provides protection to the elderly Chacha.
Sobti's large frame made him just right for thuggish roles in Hindi and he got his first break in Hindi cinema in action sequences against Jeetendra in 'Meri Awaz Suno' (1981).
Soon thereafter, he appeared in the action thriller, 'Raksha', which was a remake of a Telugu film inspired by the James Bond movie, 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. The strong man, pitched against Jeetendra yet again, reprised the role of 'Jaws' in the Bond movie.
Apart from having a busy film and television career, Sobti also dabbled in politics -- he stood in the 2013 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (2013) elections and subsequently joined the BJP.
NCB official sources have hinted that there is apparently no evidence of any "drug-related exchanges" in her alleged WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan - the son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan - who has been arrested in the drugs case and currently in judicial custody till October 30.
The pony-tailed senior Khan sporting dark shades and a black facemask over a grey half-sleeved T-shirt was virtually mobbed by the paparazzi and the hordes of policemen as he entered the menacing barred gates of the ARCJ in the congested south Mumbai.
Along with Aryan Khan - the son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the other seven accused - arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 3 after the October 2 raid on a rave party aboard a cruise ship - were also sent to judicial custody till October 30 by the court.
Talking of 'Sooryavanshi', the film is now set for a massive theatrical release after its run-ins with delays and uncertainties. The film which also stars Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff and Jaaved Jaaferi with Ajav Devgn and Ranveer Singh in extended cameo appearances, will hit the screens on November 5 and will quell the audience's hunger for a true blue Bollywood potboiler, this Diwali.
Special NDPS Judge V.V. Patil also declined the bail applications of Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, the two others accused in the drug case lodged by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The unverifiable reports, attributed to unidentified NCB sources, claimed that Aryan Khan was purportedly 'full of guilt and remorse' over his recent actions leading to his arrest and custody since the past 17 days.
