Veteran actor-filmmaker Deb Mukherjee passes away
Mumbai, Mar 14 (PTI): Veteran actor-filmmaker Deb Mukherjee, father of director Ayan Mukerji, passed away due to prolonged illness on Friday morning at his residence in suburban Mumbai. He was 83.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you of the passing of Mr. Debu Mukherjee, an actor and driving force of the North Bombay Durga Puja. He left us this morning,” a statement issued by his representative said.
His last rites were performed at the Pawan Hans Crematorium in Juhu in suburban Mumbai.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Mukherjee appeared in supporting roles in films like “Tu Hi Meri Zindagi”, “Abhinetri”, “Do Aankhen”, “Baton Baton Mein”, “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander”, “King Uncle”, and “Kaminey”. He also directed and produced the 1983 movie "Karate", starring Mithun Chakraborty, Kaajal Kiran, and Yogeeta Bali.
Mukherjee was part of the famous Samarth-Mukherjee family. He was the father-in-law of Ashutosh Gowariker and uncle of Bollywood actors Kajol and Rani Mukerji.
His mother, Satidevi, was the only sister of Ashok Kumar, Anup Kumar, and Kishore Kumar. His brothers were popular actor and filmmaker Joy Mukherjee and filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee, who married Bollywood actor Tanuja (mother of Kajol).
Mukherjee was married twice; his daughter Sunita from his first marriage is married to director Gowariker, and Ayan is his son from his second marriage.
Several family members and close friends, including Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Jaya Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, and others, paid their last respects.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
