Ragesh Asthana

Ragesh Asthana Biography

Ragesh Asthana was a film and television actor known for supporting roles. He passed away most recently in March 2014 following a heart attack. He was only 51. He is best known for the television serials - Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Bombay Blue, Palampur Express, Katputli etc and was last seen in ‘Gumraah’. He played character roles in a few Bollywood movies like Jaal, Rakta Charitra 2, I don’t luv u, Shabri, Radha Ka Sangam, Chaal, Waqt Hamara Hai, Black Friday, Taxi No. 9211 etc. He is associated with Doordarshan serials since late 1980s.

Ragesh was born on May 17, 1962 in Uganda. He was married to Jyoti since 1994 and the couple had two children. He made his acting debut through 1987 popular series on Doordarshan – Subhah. In this cult campus story, Ragesh portrayed the role of Appu Swami. The series was directed by Late Shri Bharat Rungachary. With this single role he gained quick attention, though he had to struggle a lot later. Portraying Appu Swami’s character was not an easy task to do. Earlier he auditioned for the role of Prem, for which he got rejected. Then he got opportunity to attend audition for the second best role. That’s how Appu Swami happened to him.

Later he was offered many roles similar to the one he played in Subah. So he rejected them all waiting for some meaty role. But it didn’t happen. Later he portrayed some interesting characters in Adhikaar, Discovery of India etc. His role as rebellious Nikhil Singhani in Parivartan in 1993 proved to be his real break. Since then he got some good roles of his career.

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Updated: September 17, 2014