'Ranjit blew me away with the wide range of his talent'

'His wicked sense of humour, his compassion will be hard to replace.'

Actor Ranjit Chowdhry passed away suddenly in Mumbai last week. He was 65.

Ranjit -- the late actress and theatre legend Pearl Padamsee's son -- will be remembered for his funny performances in Basu Chatterjee's Khatta Meetha, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Khubsoorat, Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala and so many other films.

Ranjit acted in four films for Director Deepa Mehta: Sam & Me, Camilla, Fire, Bollywood/Hollywood.

Deepa Mehta can't believe Ranjit is gone.

"I have been in shock followed by an immense sadness by Ranjit's death," Deepa Mehta tells Subhash K Jha from Toronto.

"We did four films together. He was in my first film Sam & Me. And he blew me away with the wide range of his talent, not only as an actor who was willing to take immense risks in playing difficult darkly comic roles, but also for his antennae to contribute effortlessly to improvising dialogue."

Deepa remembers Ranjit fondly as eternally rebellious.

"His wicked sense of humour, his disdain for convention, his compassion and irascible nature will be hard to replace."