'Raj Kaushal told wife Mandira Bedi he was getting a heart attack', says friend Sulaiman Merchant

Sulaiman Merchant has revealed that Raj Kaushal had told his wife Mandira Bedi that he was getting a heart attack. Raj died on Wednesday due to a cardiac arrest.

Music director Sulaiman Merchant has said that filmmaker Raj Kaushal had told his wife, actor-television presenter Mandira Bedi that he was getting a heart attack. Raj died early on Wednesday morning due to a cardiac arrest at the age of 49.

Mandira Bedi with husband Raj Kaushal and their children.

Raj Kaushal's last rites were held at Shivaji Park crematorium, Dadar. His close friends from the industry including actors Ronit Roy, Sameer Soni, Ashish Chowdhry, and Dino Morea were present. Film personalities such as Arshad Warsi, Neha Dhupia, Onir, Vicky Kaushal and Hansal Mehta has paid their tribute to Raj.

Sulaiman Merchant told a leading daily, "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." Sulaiman also said that Raj had suffered a heart attack previously too. He 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."

Sulaiman also spoke about Raj and their friendship, "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 directed movies such as Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and Shaadi Ka Laddoo, featuring Mandira Bedi. He started as a writer in 1989 and then worked as an assistant director with Mukul Anand. He set up his own advertising-production company, Fuel, and went on to direct over 800 commercials. One of the last commercials that Kaushal directed was with Vicky Kaushal.