New Delhi: Actor Rani Mukerji, who has worked with the late filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Mardaani, offered her condolences at the sudden demise of the filmmaker. She said in a statement that she is very ‘shocked’ with the news and also shared that she spoke to the director recently. 


Her statement read, “I'm very very shocked by the news of Dada's passing away. I, in fact, spoke to him just the other day when I had gone to Amritsar, to the Golden Temple where he had called me telling me about my film so we had a long chat, he was insisting to do a facetime call but that day the network was not good so I was unable to video call with him. We were planning to meet this week when I got back but it is just so unexpected.” 


She also revealed that Pradeep Sarkar’s wife Panchali informed her about his demise. 


“His wife (Panchali boudi) called me at 4 am when this happened, it is really sad and shocking that dada has passed away like this. Boudi had informed me that he was on remission and he was all ok. He was also shooting these last few days so I don't know how it all transpired in just a matter of a few hours. I'm sure everybody who knows Dada will feel his loss deeply the way I'm feeling it. I had a great connection with him, we've done a lot of work together over the years, so it's literally like losing a family member. My heart goes out to Boudi, Ronno and Raya as they were a very close-knit family and to all the people who worked in Dada's production house and those who have been attached to him over the years. It's going to be a great loss for them,” the statement read. 


 Rani said she was supposed to meet him soon and that she will hold on to her last memory of being happy and excited for Rani. 


So I'm really very saddened by this because I was meant to meet him soon so I feel terrible about it. You never realise how life is so unpredictable, you speak to a person and the next thing you know is that the person is not there. I will hold on to my last memory of him being so happy and excited for me as he had called me to share the feedback that he was getting for my film and me from all over.” 


Pradeep Sarkar passed away in Mumbai after a prolonged illness on Friday. He was 67. 


Starting his entertainment career with commercials and music videos in the early 1900s, Sarkar debuted as a director with 'Parineeta' (2005) starring Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan.  
  
Over the years, he made other films like 'Laaga Chunari Me Daag' (2007), 'Lafangey Pandey' (2010), 'Mardaani' (2014), 'Helicopter Eela' (2016), and co-edited the superhit Vidhu Vinod Chopra film 'Munna Bhai MBBS' (2003).  
  
Since 2019, Sarkar has also directed web series like 'Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala', 'Arranged Marriage', 'Forbidden Love', 'Duranga'.