Ragesh Asthana

Ragesh Asthana (May 17, 1962 – March 20, 2014) was an Indian actor who acted in several Hindi television serials such as Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Palampur Express, Katputli and was last seen in Gumraah on Channel V.

Ragesh was born on May 17, 1962 in Uganda. He married Jyothi in 1994 and had two children Nanaki and Yuvaraj.

Ragesh debuted as an actor in 1987 in the serial Subah directed by Bharat Rungachary where he played the character of Appu Swami. Ragesh had initially auditioned for the role of another character Prem but was rejected. He then tried for the next best role available and during the audition enacted a soliloquy from one of the plays that he had earlier acted in which helped him bag the role of Appu Swami.

After the success of Subah, Ragesh was offered similar roles to the character he played in Subah, which caused him to reject such roles. During this time, he played small roles in episodic stories like Discovery of India by Shyam Benegal and Adhikar by Manju Sinha. After a long gap, he received the role of the rebellious Nikhil Singhani in the television series Parivartan (1993) which was telecast on Zee TV.

His work in television includes Andaaz by Himesh Reshammiya, Shatranj produced by Raman Kumar, Marshall, Waqt ki Raftaar,and Khamoshi by Gautam Adhikari.

Apart from television, Ragesh has also worked in some films such as Taxi No. 9211, Black Friday, Rakta Charitra 2, Jaal: The Trap, Chhal, Dharini and a few others.

Films

• I Don't Luv U (2013)
• The Victim (2012 film) - Lawyer
• Shabri (2011) - Shardool Seth
• Rakta Charitra 2 (2010) - Jailor
• 340 (2009) - Store Keeper
• Taxi No. 9211: Nau Do Gyarah (2006) - Car owner
• Black Friday (2004) - Mohammad Dossa
• Jaal: The Trap (2003) - Ajay's brother-in-law
• Chhal (2002) - Inspector Patil
• Waqt Hamara Hai (1993)
• Radha Ka Sangam (1992)

Television

• Gumrah: End of Innocence (2012)
• Palampur Express (2009) - Ravikant Dixit
• Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo (2009–11)
• Katputli
• Equador (TV Mini-Series)(2009) - Joghind
• Shatranj
• Marshall
• Andaz
• Dharini (2002)
• Khamoshi
• Waqt ki Raftaar (1999)
• Bombay Blue (TV Mini-Series) (1997) - Cop 1
• Parivartan (1993) - Nikhil Singhani
• The Zee Horror Show (TV Series) (1994 – 95)
• Subah (TV Series) (1987)

Ragesh Asthana died on March 20, 2014 in Mumbai due to a heart attack.