The sudden unexpected demise of the tall, lanky, lazy-eyed comedian Ravi Baswani on July 27, 2010 was just another sorry tale of talent gone wasted in Bollywood. Born on September 29, 1946, Baswani belonged to the now-going-out-of-vogue breed of stage-actors making their mark in Hindi cinema. He was first picked up by director Sai Paranjape to play the role of a young collegian in Chashme Baddur (1981). There, his wacky tomfoolery and skirt-chasing antics (along with his partner in crime Rakesh Bedi) had provided the perfect comic foil for Farooque Shaikh and Deepti Naval's winsome romantic chemistry.

The next great break for him came in director Kundan Shah's cult classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), a dark comedy exposing the sociopolitical corruption. There Baswani's superb comic timing had helped him even upstage actors of the caliber of Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Om Puri. But then, as the luck would have it, the success and the roles deserted him in films. Perhaps he was too picky and choosy to survive in that rut. The rest of his acting career featured a few television successes and a lot of insignificant wink-and-you'd miss him-kind of film-roles.

In one of his interviews, Ravi Baswani had quipped, “Had I died just after Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, I would have been admired as an icon like James Dean.” As it finally panned out, Baswani was not destined to die as an icon. When the death did strike him, he was all set to make his directorial debut in Bollywood! Some people never get what they deserve in life!