Not one to socialize or make friends beyond the sets, filmmaker Prakash Jha has lost a rare friend. Veteran Marathi actor Vinay Apte who played striking characters in Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti and Aarakshan, passed away suddenly on Saturday evening. Prakash, though jolted by the death, says it wasn’t so sudden. “Vinay underwent a bypass surgery about a year ago. Since then he has been unwell. Recently he was hospitalized in a serious condition at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. I visited him. Now he’s gone,” says Prakash, who is known to be a loner and hence not prone to making friends. “I am not one for keeping up contacts or indulging in social niceties. But I was comfortable in Vinay’s company. He was straightforward, honest and dependable. I didn’t socialize with Vinay. But I can say he was good friend. This is a personal loss to me. He was a very good human being and very dependable. And an excellent actor. I had seen his exemplary work in Marathi theatre. I first offered him a role in Raajneeti. It was a difficult role of a politician with sleazy shades to the character. Vinay carried it off with fluency and ease,” recalled Prakash fondly. “I then offered him a part in Aarakshan. He was one of those ever-dependable actors whom I didn’t have to work too hard on. He was an effortless actor,” says Prakash. Though not seen much in Hindi films Vinay Apte was a formidable figure on Marathi stage and theatre. Observes Prakash, “We tend to look at actors in Hindi cinema as primary representatives of acting talent, when in fact there is tremendous talent in regional cinema. Vinay’s work in Marathi will remain alive forever. True, he did less work in Hindi cinema. But whatever he did was par excellence. His going away is personal loss and a huge blow to cinema and theatre.”