Passionate is how Pahlaj Nihalani’s collaborators and friends from the industry describe the veteran producer, who passed away on June 4, at 76. In his close to four-decade career, he not only backed several mainstream entertainers, but also gave Bollywood two stars in Govinda and Chunky Panday. 

When mid-day reached out to Panday, the actor remembered how a chance meeting led Nihalani to cast him in Aag Hi Aag (1987). “We met under hilarious circumstances at a hotel bathroom in Juhu. Pahlajji helped me out of an awkward situation and asked me to meet him at his office the next day. Then I did two films back-to-back with him — Aag Hi Aag, and Paap Ki Duniya [1988]. I owe him a big thanks for launching my career,” he said. To him, Nihalani was a father figure. But on set, he was always a hands-on producer first. “He made me do 32 retakes for my first shot; he wanted it perfect,” recalled the actor.