Satish Kaushik, the man behind some of the most iconic characters in Hindi cinema, passed away in the early hours of 9 March. Filmfare reports that the actor-director was in his car on the way to Gurugram when he had a heart attack at approximately 1am this morning. The 66-year-old was immediately taken to a hospital where he breathed his last. Kaushik’s body will be brought to Mumbai after a post-mortem is conducted.

Kaushik made his Bollywood debut with the 1983 cult comedy hit Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, a movie he also wrote the dialogues for. He then played unforgettable comedic supporting characters like Calendar in 1987’s Mr. India, Pappu Pager in 1997’s Deewana Mastana and Kunj Bihari Lal in 1999’s Haseena Maan Jaayegi. He was also known for directing popular Bollywood melodramas like Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, and Tere Naam.

He didn’t just play funny men though. The actor also received praise for excelling in roles that were challenging in other ways, such as for his performance as Chanu, an abusive husband, in 2007 British film Brick Lane. As a theatre actor, his most noted role was as Willy Loman in the Hindi-language play Salesman Ramlal, an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Kaushik was last seen celebrating Holi on 7 March with his friends from the film industry including Javed Akhtar, Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha.

Kaushik is survived by his wife and daughter. Many of Bollywood’s biggest names have taken to social media to express their shock and grief at losing a valued colleague. His upcoming work includes the Netflix series Guns & Gulaabs, created and directed by Raj and D.K. Thank you for the laughs Kunj Bihari, kya baat hai tumhari!