Mahabharat's Bheem aka Praveen Kumar Sobti passes away; A look at rarely seen pics of the multitalented actor

Praveen Kumar Sobti, who essayed the role of Bheem in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, passed away last night. An actor, sportsperson, soldier of BSF and politician, he was a multi-talented personality who played multiple roles in his life. As we bid adieu to him, here’s a look at some of his rarely seen pictures:

Praveen Kumar Sobti became a household name with his portrayal of Bheem in Mahabharat. His stint in the mythological show helped him with numerous other projects in the acting world. This is a still from one of his scenes in Mahabharat.

Dara Singh, who was known for playing the role of Hanuman in Ramayan, also appeared in Mahabharat for an episodic role. This is a moment captured from a scene between Bheem and Hanuman aka Praveen Kumar Sobti and Dara Singh respectively.

This is a behind the scenes moment after the cast and crew shot the Kurukshetra War. Praveen Kumar Sobti posed with his fellow actors to keep a memory of the moment.

Here’s a photograph of the Pandavas of Mahabharat from a photoshoot for a magazine. Praveen Kumar Sobti posed with Gajendra Chouhan who had played the role of Yudhishthir, Firoz Khan was Arjun, Sameer Chitra as Nakul and Sanjeev Chitre as Sahadeva. This is one of the most rarely seen sights of Mahabharat actors.

Mahabharat was a superhit mythological show and was loved by people of all ages. Praveen Kumar Sobti enjoyed immense popularity after featuring in Mahabharat. This is a picture of the late actor giving his autograph to kids.

This is a picture captured on the sets of Mukesh Khanna’s show Shaktiman. Praveen Kumar Sobti is seen in conversation with Mukesh Khanna and a few other team members. Mukesh Khanna had played the role of Bheeshma Pitamah in Mahabharat.

Praveen Kumar Sobti has featured in innumerable Hindi and regional language movies and TV shows. Here’s a picture of the late actor in a frame with Kamal Haasan, from the movie Michael Madana Kama Rajan. He was a part of some hit movies including Amitabh Bachchan’s Shehenshah. Praveen Kumar was the actor who played the role of Saboo in the Chacha Chaudhary series.

Praveen Kumar Sobti led Indian athletics in the 1960s and 70s. He was a gold medalist in the discus throw at the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games. He was a silver medalist in the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston and in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran. These are a few of his pictures from his sports stints. He was a two-time olympian too.

Bheem of Mahabharat stepped into politics too. Praveen Kumar Sobti first joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013 and also contested for Delhi Assembly elections. Later in the following year, he joined the BJP.