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By PTI
NEW DELHI: Actor-athlete Praveen Kumar Sobti, best known for playing Bheem in the TV series “Mahabharat” and for winning an Asian Games gold medal, died following a cardiac arrest late Monday evening.
The 74-year-old actor breathed his last at his Ashok Vihar residence here.
“He had a chronic chest infection problem. At night, when he started feeling uneasy, we called the doctor at home. He passed away between 10-10. 30 PM following a cardiac arrest,” a relative of Praveen told PTI.
Sobti, who hailed from a humble family in Sarhali Kalan village near Amritsar, was 20 when he joined the Border Security Force (BSF), where he was first noticed for his athletic skills.
The athlete dominated the discus and hammer throw events for many years during the 1960s and 70s, winning medals in three Asian Games, one Commonwealth Games and taking part in two Olympics — the 1968 Mexico editions and the ill-fated 1972 Games in Munich — where Israeli athletes were massacred by a Palestinian terrorist group.
He came up with his career-best efforts in the two Olympics — 60.84m in hammer throw (1968) and 53.12m in discus throw (1972).
Sobti’s discus throw gold medals in the Asiad came in the 1966 and 1970 editions.
He won a hammer throw bronze in the 1966 Asian Games and a silver in the same discipline in the Commonwealth Games that year.
He also won a discus throw silver in the 1974 Asian Games.
His hammer throw silver (in 1966) remains the only one that an Indian has won at the CWG.
It was India’s maiden medal in a field event in the Commonwealth Games and only the second in athletics after Milkha Singh’s 440 yard gold in the 1958 edition.
He gained further popularity after he began his acting career and featured as Bheem in BR Chopra’s classic “Mahabharat” in 1988.
As an actor, Sobti featured in supporting parts in close to 50 movies like “Yudh”, “Adhikar”, “Hukumat”, “Shahenshah”, “Ghayal”, “Aaj Ka Arjun” and Tamil film “Michael Madana Kama Rajan”.
He entered politics in 2013 when he joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to contest the Delhi assembly elections. However, Sobti lost to BJP’s Mahender Nagpal.
After that, he joined the BJP in 2014.
He is survived by wife, daughter, two younger brothers and a sister.
On Twitter, union minister Kiren Rijiju said he was saddened by Sobti’s demise.
“Very sad to learn about the demise of Olympian and 4-times Asian Games Medalist in Discus and Hammer throw, Praveen Kumar Sobti. He also played the role of Bheem in ‘Mahabharat’ TV Serial. My heartfelt condolences to his family and entire sporting fraternity,” he tweeted.
The BSF remembered Sobti as a “gentle giant”.
“Director General & All Ranks of BSF condole the untimely demise of Praveen Kumar Sobti, former Deputy Commandant, Arjuna Awardee, two-time Olympian (1968 Mexico Games and 1972 Munich Games) & four-time Asian Games medallist (2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze),” read the tweet from BSF’s official Twitter handle.
“The iconic role of ‘Bheem’ essayed by Sh Praveen Kumar Sobti in B R Chopra’s Mahabharat will continue to bring back memories of the ‘gentle giant’,” the BSF said in another post.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter and condoled Sobti’s death.
“Very sad. Praying to God to give place to the departed soul at his feet. With his brilliant acting, Praveen Kumar made his place in the heart of every Indian by bringing alive the character of Bhima in the ‘Mahabharata’ show. Humble tribute,” Kejriwal said.
Adille Sumariwalla, the president of Athletics Federation of India (AFI), said with the demise of Sobti, Indian athletics has lost a wonderful ambassador and “gentle giant”.
“He will remain an inspiration for years to come as he is a great example of an athlete who gave his best on the international platform in the 11 years that he competed at the highest level,” Sumariwalla said in his condolence message… It is this quality of raising his game at the biggest of stages that made Praveen Kumar the top-notch performer,” Sumariwalla said.
“To have achieved all this at a time when training for major competition entailed only short stints in a National camp speaks volumes about his natural talent and the passionate fire that drove him to achieve excellence.”
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