New Delhi: Veteran actor Pankaj Dheer died on Wednesday. October 15, 2025, after a long battle with cancer. He played the most iconic role of Karna in BR Chopra’s mythological show – Mahabharata. His co-star in the play, who played Draupadi, actress Roopa Ganguly mourned his sudden demise and cried remembering the ‘handsome man on the set’.
Roopa Ganguly on Pankaj Dheer
The famous actress told NDTV, “I can’t even imagine that he left us at this age. I feel very sad to hear this. I don’t know what to say.” The cause of her death was said to be cancer, although the actress was unaware of her illness. “I talked to him over text maybe a year ago. But he never talked to me about his illness,” she said.
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“After Nitish Bhardwaj, Pankaj Dheer was the most handsome man on the set. I used to send him messages calling him ‘my most handsome friend’.” He knew that people called him ‘handsome’. But he is a very well-mannered, soft-spoken gentleman. Puneet Issar and Firoz Khan were a bit playful. But Pankaj was always a reserved person.”
He also told about his last meeting with Pankaj Dheer. She said, “This happened years ago. I go to Mumbai for a short period of time. I inform some of my friends before going there. I remember, once Pankaj came and met me. And the second time, he could not be found. But we kept talking on text every now and then.”
Many Bollywood and TV celebrities including Salman Khan, Mukesh Rishi, Feroz Khan, Deepika Kakkar, Shoaib Ibrahim Many others paid their last respects to the iconic star, who was cremated at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Mumbai’s Vile Parle West area on the afternoon of October 15, 2025.
About Pankaj Dheer
Pankaj Dheer, 68, played lead roles in superhit TV shows Chandrakanta, The Great Maratha, Yug and Badho Bahu among others. He worked in many Hindi films including Sadak, Soldier and Badshah.
He played the lead role in the first episode of Dastak – Ek TV series, followed by the lead role in Zee Horror Show (1993) opposite Archana Puran Singh. He also played the lead role in the TV series Kanoon based on the court-room drama.
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Pankaj was married to Anita Dheer and had two children. His son Nikitin Dheer, also an actor, is married to TV star Krutika Sengar. He has acted in films including Chennai Express, Jodha Akbar and Sooryavanshi.
Pankaj Dheer’s last show was Dhruv Tara – Samay Sadhi Se Pare (2024) and he was also a part of the 2019 web series Poison.