President Kovind conveys condolence to Tom Alter's family

New Delhi [India], September 30 (ANI): President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday conveyed his condolence on the demise of Padma Shri awardee and veteran film, television and theatre actor, director and writer Tom Alter, who passed away on late Friday night after battling with stage four skin cancer at age of 67.

President Kovind took to Twitter and posted, "Sad to hear of demise of veteran actor Tom Alter. He will be remembered by film lovers. Condolences to his family."

Alter was famously known for playing the gangster Keshav Kalsi in the hit soap opera 'Junoon', which ran for a record five years during the 1990s.

A native of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, and Alter was bestowed with Padma Shri for his service to the field of arts and cinema.

Apart from acting in over 300 movies apart from numerous TV shows, Alter was the first person to interview Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar for TV when the cricketer was yet to debut for India.

Alter's first release was Ramanand Sagar's Charas in 1976. Among his notable roles are Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Shyam Benega's Junoon, Manoj Kumar's magnum opus Kranti, Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili, and Mahesh Bhatt's Aashiqui.

He also acted in several foreign films - Richard Attenborough's Gandhi and One Night with the King. (ANI)