Sulaiman Merchant has revealed that filmmaker Raj Kaushal had told his wife, Mandira Bedi that he was getting a heart attack. Raj passed away on Wednesday morning due to a cardiac arrest at the age of 49 years. His last rites were held at Shivaji Park crematorium, Dadar and were attended by close friends Ronit Roy, Ashish Chowdhry, Sameer Soni and Dino Morea. His demise came as a rude shock for the fraternity and celebs like Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher, Neha Dhupia, Rohit Roy, Arshad Warsi, Vicky Kauhsal, Hansal Mehta paid tributes to his memory.

Now, while speaking to a leading daily, Sulaiman revealed what transpired before the filmmaker passed away and said, “Raj was feeling uneasy in the evening. Well, he took an antacid tablet. Raj told Mandira that he was getting a heart attack. Mandira acted swiftly and called Ashish Chaudhary, 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.”

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He also revealed that Raj had suffered a heart attack previously too and said, “I think he was 30-32 then. But they took a lot of care after that attack, and he'd kept fine since then. 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 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 rents out for shootings but eventually, we didn't shoot there. It doesn't get more shocking than this.”

Raj’s directorial filmography includes Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and Shaadi Ka Laddoo. He started off as a copywriter in 1989 and worked as an assistant director with Mukul Anand. He later set up his own advertising company, Fuel, and directed over 800 commercials. He is survived by wife Mandira and their son Vir and adopted daughter Tara.

(Source: ETimes)