Sulaiman Merchant, who composed music for late filmmaker and producer Raj Kaushal's first film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, in a recent interview with ETimes, revealed that Raj Kaushal had told wife Mandira Bedi that he was getting a heart attack. He added that Mandira Bedi and actor Ashish Chowdhry rushed Raj Kaushal to the hospital. "He was feeling uneasy in the evening. Well, he took an antacid tablet. Time rolled by into the night, and around 4 am, Raj felt more uneasy. He told Mandira that he was getting a heart attack. Mandira acted swiftly and called Ashish Chowdhry, who rushed to their place. Mandira and Ashish put him in the car but he was losing consciousness. I think they drove off, taking him to the Lilavati Hospital if I'm not wrong. But in the next 5-10 minutes, they realised that he had no pulse. Before they reached the doctor, it was too late," ETimes quoted Sulaiman as saying.
During the interview, Sulaiman Merchant also revealed that Raj Kaushal had suffered a heart attack earlier too. "I think he was 30-32 then. But they took a lot of care after that attack, and he'd kept fine since then," he added. Recalling his equation with the late filmmaker, Sulaiman said, "I have lost a friend of 25 years. I knew him since the days he was assisting Mukul Anand on Dus I had gone to his house once during the pandemic, many months back. Salim (Merchant) and I gave music to his first film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi. I was frequently in touch with him. When we were going to start our album Bhoomi 2020, he offered us his bungalow in Madh Island, which he rented out for shootings. Eventually, we didn't shoot there. It doesn't get more shocking than this."
Mandira Bedi married Raj Kaushal in the year 1999. Their son Vir, now 10, was born in 2011. Mandira and Raj Kaushal, welcomed Tara into the family in July last year. She is 4. Mandira Bedi performed the last rites of her husband on Wednesday afternoon.
Raj Kaushal, who was also a writer and a director, had backed several films, including Onir's 2005 movie My Brother... Nikhil. He had also directed films such as Pyaar Mein Kabhie Kabhie, Shaadi Ka Ladoo and Anthony Kaun Hai. He started his career as a copywriter. Raj Kaushal also started his own advertising production company in 1998 and went on to direct over 800 commercials.
