CID fame Dinesh Phadnis aka Freddy passes away

Actor Dinesh Phadnis, best known for playing Fredericks on hit TV show CID has passed away. He was aged 57.

The TV actor was recently hospitalized in Mumbai and was on a ventilator. The news of his demise was confirmed by his CID co-star Dayanand Shetty.

While it was initially reported that Dinesh suffered a cardiac arrest, it was later confirmed that he had suffered liver damage and was in critical condition.

Dinesh Phadnis played the role of Fredericks aka Freddy in CID, which is one of the longest-running shows on Indian TV.

Earlier last week, there were reports that Dinesh had suffered a heart attack. Dayanand Shetty had cleared the rumours and said that Dinesh was suffering from liver damage, not heart attack.

Dinesh played the funny and innocent CID officer Fredericks on CID, along with Shivaji Satam and Aditya Shrivastava.

He was an integral part of the TV show for almost 20 years. Besides this show, he made an appearance in “ Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah”.

The actor even played supporting roles in Bollywood films like Hrithik Roshan’s “Super 30” and “Sarfarosh”. He also made a cameo appearance in Mela’s song “Mela Dilon Ka”.

Talking about how he landed the role, Dinesh had said in an interview, “I remember I was struggling for roles and wherever I went to seek work, I met B P Singh (producer of CID). I am not aware if it was sheer luck or co incidence. Finally, he asked me if I wanted to join CID and that’s how my journey began. Later I also took up Aahat.”

“The show earlier had no humour at all. So I was chosen to be the comic relief. And I must say that I have received great response from the masses.” he said.