Kuku Kohli prayer meet: Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif pay last respects; Aruna Irani gets emotional

Filmmaker Kuku Kohli passed away on August 25 at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. On Saturday, a prayer meet was organised by his family at Celebration Sports Club in Andheri West, Mumbai. The prayer meet saw several Bollywood celebrities arriving to pay their last respects to the filmmaker and express solidarity with his family.

Kuku Kohli's widow and veteran actor Aruna Irani arrived at the prayer meet in a wheelchair. She was accompanied by family members, who held her and gave her strength as she entered the venue.

The sombre gathering saw family members and people close to the filmmaker come together to remember him and pay their respects. Bollywood star couple Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif arrived at the prayer meet together. After meeting Kuku's family members and paying their last respects, they were seen exiting the venue together.

They were accompanied by Vicky's father and stunt director Sham Kaushal. The couple was surrounded by paparazzi as they exited the venue, but Sham escorted them and made sure they reached their car safely. Later, Vicky was seen touching his father's feet before leaving.

Other celebrities, including veteran actresses Asha Parekh, Madhoo and Poonam Dhillon, as well as Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher and veteran actor Ketki Dave, were also seen at the prayer meet.

As per ANI, Kuku Kohli suffered a heart attack and breathed his last at Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on Tuesday. He was 77 years old.

Kuku Kohli made his directorial debut with Phool Aur Kaante, which emerged as a commercial success and also marked Ajay Devgn's debut. The film also starred Madhoo, Amrish Puri, Aruna Irani and Jagdeep.

Kuku Kohli also helmed films such as Suhaag, Haqeeqat, Woh Tera Naam Tha, Anari No. 1, Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa and more. He is survived by his wife, Aruna Irani, and two daughters, Pooja and Karishma, from his first marriage to Rita Kohli.

In a 2022 interaction with The Times of India, Aruna spoke about their relationship. She said, “We met each other during one of the films that we worked on together. During that film, he used to make all the other actors wait till Dharmendra ji arrived on sets to start the shoot. And I used to get very angry at him as I was too working on some other films at that time. So we started with a love and hate relationship. I used to get very upset with him and he used to console me. Uss chakkar mein kaise lafda ho gaya samajh nahi aya (Don't know how we fell for each other due to that).”

Vibha Maru is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Entertainment, based in Delhi. With a decade of experience across digital and print media, she covers Bollywood, Hollywood and web shows. A self-confessed cinephile who breathes Hindi cinema, Vibha can often be found sacrificing sleep after binge-watching films and web series. Though she holds a Commerce degree, she discovered her true calling in journalism after enrolling at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). She began her career covering Delhi's cultural scene, food, nightlife, concerts, and city life at The Times of India, before moving into full-time entertainment journalism with India Today.