Actor Mukul Dev, best known for his roles in films like Son of Sardaar, Yamla Pagla Deewana, and Jai Ho, has passed away, a close family friend said on Saturday.
He was 54.
"Yes, it is true," actor Mugdha Godse, partner of Dev's elder brother, actor Rahul Dev, told PTI when asked about the reports of Mukul Dev's demise.
The circumstances surrounding Dev's death, including the cause, are yet to be ascertained.
According to Dev's friend Vindu Dara Singh, the actor passed away on Friday at a hospital in Delhi.
"He was unwell for eight to ten days. He passed away at a hospital in Delhi. He was not looking after his health, he was depressed after the demise of his mother," Singh told PTI.
"We were waiting for Mukul to join us for the photo shoot of Son of Sardaar 2 but he had stopped answering our calls," he added.
Dev made his acting debut with the 1996 movie Dastak, co-starring Sushmita Sen and Sharad Kapoor. He was largely seen playing supporting roles in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Telugu films and TV shows.
Some of his notable movies included Ajay Devgn's Son of Sardaar, Salman Khan-starrer Jai Ho and Yamla Pagla Deewana, starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, as well as Kohram, R... Rajkumar and War Chhod Na Yaar.
He is also credited as a co-writer of filmmaker Hansal Mehta's critically-acclaimed 2017 movie Omerta, starring Rajkummar Rao.
On the small screen, Dev appeared in popular daily soaps such as Gharwali Uparwali, Kumkum, "Kutumb" and Kasshish.