The sad and shocking demise of Dr Hathi aka Kavi Kumar Azaad of the popular TV series Taarak mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah had shaken the Film and TV industry. And now we gather that the makers of the show have confirmed that they are already scouting for a new face to play Dr Hathi. Reports suggest that Nirmal Soni who played Dr Hathi will replace the deceased actor

According to Indian Express process to cast new Dr Hathi is has started already. “Producer Asit Kumar Modi is personally looking into the casting and wants the perfect replacement. While it’s really hard to find someone as talented as Kavi, we are doing our best. We should have a confirmation about the replacement soon,” the report quoted a source as saying, adding that chances are Nirmal Soni may return as Dr Hathi.

Kavi Kumar Azad died after suffering a cardiac arrest on July 9. He was cremated on July 10 at Mumbai’s Mira Road Crematorium. "We are very sad to inform the loss of our senior actor Kavi Kumar Azad. He was playing the character of Dr Hathi in 'Taarak Mehta...'. We lost him to a massive cardiac arrest today," said the think tank and co-actors of TMKO

"He was an amazing actor and a very positive person. He truly loved the show and always came for the shoot even if he was not feeling well. He called today morning saying that he is not well and will not be able to come for shoot. And later we got the news that he passed away. We are all too numb to say anything," added the creator in his interaction with IANS. Actor Samay Shah, who plays Gogi in the sitcom, described Kavi as a sweet and kind person.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2018 10:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).