Ballu is waiting for Uday bhai: A 'Welcome' goodbye to Nana and Mushtaq by fans

"Ballu is waiting for Uday bhai in heaven," a fan wrote on X on Thursday. Call the timing of their deaths a coincidence, but fans are mourning the loss of two actors who gave Bollywood two of its most iconic characters – Mushtaq Khan’s Ballu and Nana Patekar’s Uday Shetty.Sometimes, a film leaves behind more than its songs, scenes or dialogues. It leaves behind characters that somehow become a part of everyday conversation. For an entire generation of Bollywood fans, Welcome (2007) gave them two such characters.Nana Patekar played Uday Shetty, the loud, short-tempered don who desperately wanted to leave his criminal past behind and become a respectable man. Mushtaq Khan played Ballu, his loyal and often hilarious associate, who was always by Uday’s side. Together, they became one of the most memorable comic pairings in Hindi cinema.One of Welcome’s most memorable gags was Ballu’s story about his “broken” leg. He claimed Uday had smashed it with a hockey stick in a fit of anger, only to later praise Uday for getting him treated and giving him an artificial leg. The joke became even funnier when the film revealed that Ballu’s leg was never actually broken. Now, just 15 days apart, the actors who made those characters unforgettable are gone.Mushtaq Khan, known for Welcome and Aashiqui among several other films, died after battling liver cancer. His business partner Shivam confirmed his death to India Today on September 24. Khan had been undergoing treatment at Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital for around 15 days. He had first been diagnosed with cancer nearly five years ago, and the disease had recently relapsed. Nana Patekar died days later after suffering severe chest pain at his Goa home. According to Dr Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Department of Oncology at Manipal Hospital, Patekar had told a friend around 2:30 am that he was feeling uncomfortable and had pain on the left side of his chest. When the friend reached his residence, he found the actor in distress. Patekar was sweating and gradually becoming unconscious before he was taken to hospital.For fans, however, the news has brought back memories of Uday and Ballu.Take a look at some of the reactions here:Uday and Ballu, a duo fans could never forgetReleased in 2007, Welcome followed Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), who falls in love with Sanjana (Katrina Kaif), unaware that her brothers are two feared gangsters – Uday Shetty and Majnu Bhai.Patekar’s Uday was all swagger and aggression, but there was also an almost childlike desperation underneath it. He wanted his sister to marry into a good family and, more importantly, wanted to escape the world of crime.Ballu, played by Mushtaq Khan, was part of that chaotic world and remained one of Uday’s trusted men. He was less powerful and more easily rattled, but his presence added to the madness around Uday.The two worked because Patekar and Khan played off each other so naturally. Uday could lose his temper, while Ballu could become the confused, frightened or helpless man caught in the middle. Their scenes became some of the film’s most remembered moments.Years later, fans still remember them not simply as Nana Patekar and Mushtaq Khan, but as Uday bhai and Ballu. The film remains. The jokes remain. The dialogues remain. And somewhere in the memories of its fans, Ballu is still standing beside Uday bhai.- Ends