B-town stars skip A K Hangal's prayer meet

Bollywood and TV actors attended the prayer meet for veteran actor A K Hangal who died at the age of 95 in a Mumbai hospital on Sunday morning.

Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) paid tribute to the works of veteran actor Mr Hangal, who started his acting journey with theatre, at a ceremony at the Prithvi Theatre. While many of Mr Hangal's colleagues from the world of showbiz came to the prayer meet, Bollywood's biggest stars skipped the occasion. The Bachchans, Dharmendra and Hema Malini – all of who co-starred with Mr Hangal in Sholay - were notably absent.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar co-wrote Mr Hangal's most dialogue, from Sholay: “Itna sannata kyun hai bhai?”

Singer-actress Ila Arun was also there to pay her respects to the veteran actor.

Shabana Azmi and sister-in-law Tanvi Azmi at the prayer meet.

Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and character artist Javed Khan pose for shutterbugs.

Actor Anupam Kher and Rohini Hattangadi were at the remembrance meet.

Actor Rakesh Bedi and Avtar Gill were also present to pay their tributes to the veteran actor.

Actor Akhilendra Mishra, who appeared with Mr Hangal in Lagaan, with character artist Arun Bakshi.

An act was performed by a group of theatre artistes to pay tribute to A K Hangal's contribution to cinema. Mr Hangal has acted in hit films like Sholay, Aandhi, Kora Kagaz, Bawarchi and Guddi, typically playing the role of father or uncle to the leading actor.

The 1982 comedy, Shaukeen, directed by Basu Bhattacharya was one of his best roles. Mr Hangal received the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi enjoy the theatre performance.

Actor Kabir Bedi was in crisp white.

Actress Poonam Dhillon, who will return to the silver screen with Prabhu Deva's next untitled project, poses for the camera.

Veteran actress Deepti Naval flashes a smile.

Character artiste Sulabha Arya also attended the event.

Actor Anoop Soni attended the event in a black T-Shirt and blue jeans.

Actor Pavan Malhotra was also among those who attended the meet to pay tribute to A K Hangal.

Actress Rajeshwari Sachdev at the meet.

Character artiste Anjan Srivastava gave a performance.

Actor Deepak Qazir at the function.