From Irrfan Khan & SSR to Ahmed Patel & Citizen Mukherjee, personalities we lost in 2020

2020 was the year of many firsts, and many not so pleasant. The year began with violence in universities and protests around the country against the contentious CAA. As the year unfolded, the gloom spread more and more with the world literally being 'locked' due to Coronavirus pandemic. While lockdown anxiety affected one and all, the shock of losing near and dear ones was felt closely in 2020. India has lost some well-known personalities this year, many to COVID-19. Here's a tribute to all of them and a look back at their exceptional careers: 

Irrfan Khan

On April 29, actor Irrfan Khan passed away at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai aged 53. The actor was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, had been admitted for a colon infection. Irrfan Khan had shot to fame with Mira Nair’s Academy Award-nominated Salaam Bombay in 1988. The turning points in his career, however, were the critically acclaimed negative roles in Haasil and Maqbool at the start of the millennium. Irrfan Khan had won the National Award for Best Actor for his work in Paan Singh Tomar. He was known for his numerous other acclaimed works in films like The Namesake, The Lunchbox, Talwar, Piku and Hindi Medium that fetched him several awards. 

He was notable for his work in Hollywood, with roles in films like Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Life of Pi, The Namesake and Inferno. Irrfan was last seen in Angrezi Medium, the last major film to release before the COVID-19 pandemic, and earned praises from celebrities after its digital premiere.

Rishi Kapoor

Just a day after Irrfan Khan's demise, legendary actor Rishi Kapoor passed away after a two-year battle with leukemia, at HN Reliance Hospital at the age of 67 on April 30. Rishi Kapoor was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and had gone to the USA for treatment along with his wife Neetu Kapoor. He returned to India in 2019 and signed films like the remake of The Intern opposite Deepika Padukone and Sharmaji Namkeen alongside Juhi Chawla. Rishi Kapoor was last seen in the film The Body opposite Emraan Hashmi. The actor had an illustrious career spanning more than 55 years. His blockbuster hits include Karz, Bobby, Do Dooni Chaar Khel Khel Mein, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hum Kisi se Kam Nahi, Agneepath, Chandni, etc.

Sushant Singh Rajput

On June 14, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra home in Mumbai. While the Police said that he had hanged himself, his fans, close friends and family demanded a probe and accused his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of abetment of suicide. Later, CBI entered the fray and took over the case and the probe is still going on. The Enforcement Directorate also started probing his death case after Sushant's father accused Rhea of embezzlement of funds from Sushant's account. A drug-angle also emerged in the case and NCB began its own probe. Rhea was then arrested by the NCB and is currently out on bail. 

Sushant had shot to fame with the TV show Pavitra Rishta produced by Ekta Kapoor. After earning popularity with his role, he made his debut with Kai Po Che, directed by Abhishek Kapoor, an official adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s Three Mistakes of My Life. He then featured in Yash Raj Films’ Shuddh Desi Romance and a small role in the Aamir Khan-Rajkumar Hirani blockbuster PK. Sushant then earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of iconic detective Byomkesh Bakshy. However, his career’s biggest hit came with MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, in the role of the former Indian cricket captain. The actor also featured in Kedarnath, in the debut of Sara Ali Khan, which was a success. Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore in 2019 was among the biggest hits of his career. He was last seen in the Netflix film Drive and then, posthumously, was working on Dil Bechara, the adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars.

Amar Singh

Known in political circles for his exceptional talent to manage crises and controversy, former Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh passed away on August 1 in a hospital in Singapore, at the age of 64. Singh had earlier undergone a kidney transplant in 2013. Amar Singh who was a close friend of the Bachchans since 1990s, helped Amitabh Bachchan revive his debt-ridden Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) in 2003. Stepping in as the vice-chairman of the company, he was publically referred to as a 'younger brother' by Big-B. Singh also helped launch actor Jaya Bachchan's political career in the Samajwadi Party in 2004. The actor was elected to the Rajya Sabha and has since then held the position.

Amar Singh was himself elected to the Rajya Sabha four times - in 1996, 2002,2008 and 2016.  He held several posts on several parliamentary commissions since then but was best-known as SP's go-to man for swinging political support for party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Delhi. He shot to fame when he saved the UPA-1 government by pledging support of 39 MPs when it was reduced to a minority as CPI withdrew its backing to the coalition over the proposed Nuclear Accord with the United States. Moreover, Amar Singh had also managed to talk Mulayam Singh Yadav out of supporting UPA-1's coalition in the beginning when Dr. Singh had been named Prime Minister. Apart from making and breaking support for the UPA, Singh is also credited with managing to convince US President Bill Clinton to attend a banquet in his honour in Lucknow in 2005, elevating Mulayam Singh Yadav's stature in Delhi. 

Former President Pranab Mukherjee

On August 31, former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away in New Delhi's Army RR hospital. The former President was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10 and was operated the same day for removal of a clot in his brain, and also tested positive for Covid and was unable to recover. Mukherjee had been the 13th President of India, from 2012 to 2017, and had enjoyed a glittering political career before that. 

Pranab Mukherjee was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1969. Rising in former PM Indira Gandhi's cabinet, he was made Deputy Minister, Industry, Shipping and Transport, Steel and Industry and Minister of State for Finance in 1973-74 during the Emergency era. He was first made Finance Minister in 1982 in the Indira Gandhi cabinet and was Leader of the House in the Upper House of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from 1980 to 1985. Later he was made Minister for Commerce from 1993 to 1995, Minister of External Affairs from 1995 to 1996, Minister of Defence from 2004 to 2006, Minister of External Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, and Leader of the Lok Sabha from 2004-2012, till he resigned to be made President of India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna- India's highest civilian honour in 2019.

S P Balasubrahmanyam

Popular playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam passed away on September 25. The 74-year-old Balasubrahmanyam, popularly known as SPB, was admitted to hospital on August 5, after testing positive for COVID-19. His health deteriorated for the first time on August 13 and he was put on life support and moved to the Intensive Care Unit. On August 19, he was put on ECMO besides the ventilator. He underwent passive physiotherapy and was fully awake and responsive during that phase, the hospital said during the end of August. Balasubrahmanyam has sung over 40,000 songs, in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. 

Jaswant Singh

Retired Indian Army officer and former Union Minister Jaswant Singh passed away on September 27 at the age of 82. Jaswant Singh entered politics in the late 1960s, but was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1980. He was sent on a BJP ticket to Rajya Sabha 5 times and won elections to the Lok Sabha 4 times (1990, 1991, 1996 and 2009). He served as Finance Minister in Vajpayee's government in 1996 and later was appointed as the Minister for External Affairs of India (December 5, 1998, to July 1, 2002). In 2002, he again became the Finance Minister and served until BJP lost elections in May 2004.

Ram Vilas Paswan

Union Consumer Affairs Minister and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan passed away at a hospital in the national capital on October 8. Born on July 5, 1946, Paswan completed a Masters' and a law degree besides passing the Bihar civil service exam. However, he chose to join politics and was elected to the Bihar Assembly in 1969 as a Samyukta Socialist Party candidate. He was one of the prominent politicians who was jailed during the Emergency. Since then, Paswan was a part of various parties including the Janata Party and Janata Dal.

After the Janata Dal split into two factions, he along with some other members formed the LJP in November 2000. From 1977 onwards, he was continuously elected to the Lok Sabha barring 1984 and 2009. He served as a Union Minister in the National Front governments (1989-90 and 1996-98), the Atal Bihar Vajpayee-led NDA government (1999-2002), the UPA government (2004-2009) and the Narendra Modi-led government (2014-2020). 

Keshubhai Patel

Former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel passed away on October 29 at the age of 93 at a hospital in Ahmedabad. The 93-year-old veteran politician had tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) on September 18. Patel, who formed the first BJP government in Gujarat in 1995, was succeeded by Narendra Modi in 2001. Keshubahi Patel was elected first as Gujarat's CM in March 1995 and lasted a mere six months. He was CM again from March 1998 to October 2001. Patel, who was a six-time member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, quit the BJP in 2012 and floated the 'Gujarat Parivartan Party' to contest the polls. After a drubbing at the polls, he later merged with the BJP in 2014. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a pracharak. Entering politics in 1960s, he was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh and was part of the anti-Emergency movement, being imprisoned with several other leaders in 1975. 

Soumitra Chatterjee

Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee breathed his last at a private hospital in Kolkata on November 15 at the age of 85. The Padma Bhushan winner had earlier tested positive for COVID-19, but struggled with health complications since recovering from the disease. Chatterjee was best-known for his work with Satyajit Ray and was often called 'Ray's actor'. He was the lead actor in 14 of Ray's films and debuted in the third movie of the Apu trilogy, Apur Sansar, released in 1959. Chatterjee was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, in 2012, and France's highest award - the Legion of Honour, in 2018.

Tarun Gogoi

Three-time Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi passed away on November 23, at Guwahati Medical College Hospital. He had multi-organ failure due to post-COVID complications. Tarun Gogoi - fondly called 'Punakon' -  joined politics in 1968 as a member of the Jorhat Municipal Board. In 1971, Gogoi was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jorhat for the first time. He was re-elected to Lok Sabha in 1977, 1980 and then 1985 - serving under two Prime Ministers - Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. During his time in the Centre, he held a cabinet post - Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Food & Food processing later, between 1991-1995.

Inspite of being a 6-time Lok Sabha MP, he was perceived as a low-profile politician till he became Assam's CM. In 1997, he was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly from Margherita Assembly Constituency and took over the reins of the state on May 17, 2001, winning  Titabor assembly constituency which he held till 2016. The 4-time MLA was re-elected as CM for three back-to-back terms from 2001 to 2016, thus becoming the longest-serving Assam CM.

Ahmed Patel

Senior Congress leader and the party's top strategist, Ahmed Patel passed away in a Gurugram hospital on November 25,  due to multi-organ failure. He was suffering from complications related to COVID-19. Patel who was 71, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications. "AP" to his friends and "Ahmed Bhai" to colleagues, Patel was one of the closest aides of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary for a long time. He was the trouble-shooter of the Congress and had steered the party out of ticklish situations many a time. He was the grand old party's pointsman for building consensus on key issues with other parties and leaders, his last being the successful alliance of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena.

At the time of his death, Patel was a member of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. He was an eight-time parliamentarian -- five times in the Rajya Sabha, three times in the Lok Sabha. His last Rajya Sabha election in 2017 was contested very keenly amid charges of horse-trading. He was also the Congress treasurer, a post that he occupied thrice. Patel began his political career by contesting the local body polls in Gujarat's Bharuch district in 1976. He became a Lok Sabha MP in March 1977 and was a member of the sixth, seventh and eighth Lok Sabha till 1989. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in August 1993. Patel was a close confidant of Rajiv Gandhi and the parliamentary secretary to the then Prime Minister from 1985 to 1986. He later took charge of the Congress's organisational structure both in Gujarat and at the party high-command. 

Mahashay Dharampal Gulati

Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, owner of the famous spice company MDH Masala, passed away on December 3 in a hospital in New Delhi. Gulati (97) was undergoing post-COVID treatment and suffered a cardiac arrest. Popularly known as "Spice King", Gulati was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award, in 2019. Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on March 27, 1923, Gulati had moved to India after partition and set up his business in Delhi. The 'Mahashian Di Hatti' (MDH) was founded by his late father Mahashay Chunni Lal Gulati.