Film and TV actor Salim Ghouse passed away on Thursday in Mumbai after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 70. He is remembered for his performances in Shyam Benegal’s ‘Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), 'Chakra' (1981), 'Saaransh' (1984) and 'Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!' (1984). He featured as the antagonist in the Kamal Haasan-starrer 'Vettri Vizhaa' (1989) besides Vijay's film 'Vettaikaaran' (2009).

Legendary director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal paid tribute to the late actor in a conversation with mid-day.com. Benegal said, “It’s such a shock to hear that Salim Ghouse is no more. He was such a physically fit person. Apart from being a brilliant actor, he had quite an energetic presence on the sets. He was a dear friend, but I had lost touch with him for some time. We worked together a lot. He was in ‘Bharat Ek Khoj' in many different roles, one of the characters he played was that of Lord Krishna in the show, by far the most astounding performance. The dialogues were in Sanskritised Hindi, and Salim was from the South, yet he delivered them so well. It was one of those series where you had to have excellent actors because they had to speak continuously for 8-10 minutes. His was an outstanding performance.”

Adding that he is saddened by the news, Benegal said, “His last film 'Well Done Abba' was also with me. In recent years, we didn’t work together much, but you have to watch him in 'Bharat Ek Khoj!' From Lord Krishna to Ram, he was marvellous in every role. He got busy with films in the South, where he was quite popular. I lost touch with the family in recent years, but he was too young to pass away.”