A prayer meeting for the late actor Pradeep Rawat was held in Mumbai on Friday. It was attended by family, friends from the film industry, and fellow artists. Pradeep Rawat passed away at the age of 74 due to blood cancer. At the prayer meeting, his son, Vikramaditya Rawat, paid an emotional tribute to his father. He said that he would carry forward his father's legacy and make him proud. During this, Vikramaditya broke down crying, remembering his father, and said, 'Thank you for coming here. I am not in a state to talk. There are so many memories. My hands and feet are trembling.' Son said- Father was a man of respect and honor During the prayer meeting, speaking to ANI, Vikramaditya Rawat became emotional remembering his father. He said, "First of all, I want to say that whatever words I speak about my father, they will always fall short. He was a man of respect and honor." He further said, No matter how many times I pray to God or God asks me what kind of father I wanted, I will always take his name. Expressed desire to meet Salman, said - Dad used to tell his stories I actually used to say one thing, now if this message reaches him, it would be great. I used to tell Dad that Dad, I want to meet Salman Sir, because I am a very big fan of Salman Bhai. Not just for acting, he is a very good person. Dad used to tell me stories about how they lived in one house, how close Salim Sahab was to him. Further, Vikramaditya said, I was very happy that Salman Bhaijaan gave a tribute to Dad after so many years, when they haven't spoken or met. It brought great joy. Hiccups started two months ago, medicines had no effect Vikramaditya also spoke about Pradeep Rawat's last illness. He said that initially it seemed like a minor health problem, but it soon turned into a life-threatening condition. He said, "Two months ago, he started having hiccups. He came home and we thought it might be a minor infection. But when the hiccups increased, we called the doctor home." Vikramaditya said, "When the doctor arrived, he said that it could be a serious infection. The doctor prescribed several medicines, but unfortunately none of them had any effect." Pradeep Rawat's blood cancer had returned. He passed away on August 5, 2026. He is survived by his wife Kalyani Rawat and son Vikramaditya Rawat. Vikramaditya said - I will make my father's legacy even bigger Vikramaditya promised to carry forward his father's legacy. He said, He had faith, and I also have faith that one day I will make him proud. He said, I will carry forward his legacy. I want to embrace his legacy and make it even bigger. Pictures from the prayer meet- Pradeep Rawat passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74. His last rites were performed on Wednesday in Goregaon, Mumbai. Many celebrities including Aamir Khan and Raza Murad attended Pradeep Rawat's funeral. Pictures from the funeral- According to a report by Hindustan Times, Pradeep Rawat's manager Siddharth Tiwari had stated that the actor was suffering from cancer. The disease had recurred. He had been undergoing treatment in the hospital for the past one month. Played the role of Ashwatthama in Mahabharat Pradeep Rawat started his acting career with B.R. Chopra's TV show Mahabharat. He was seen in the role of Ashwatthama. Pradeep then worked in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Bhojpuri films. In Hindi cinema, he appeared in films like Lagaan, Sarfarosh, Ghajini, and Grand Masti. He entered South Indian cinema with the Telugu film Sye and went on to play many memorable villain roles. His double role in the Tamil film Ghajini (2005) was highly appreciated. Later, he also reprised the same role in the Hindi remake Ghajini. Additionally, he also acted in the Kannada film Parody, the Malayalam film China Town, the Bengali film Hero 420, and the Bhojpuri film Crack Fighter. Aamir Khan was scolded by his sister The role of Deva in the film Lagaan was first offered to actor Mukesh Rishi, but due to his busy schedule with several South Indian films, he did not do it. After this, the role went to Pradeep Rawat. Actually, Aamir Khan was quite impressed after seeing Pradeep Rawat's work in the film Sarfarosh. He called Pradeep's home landline around midnight, at 12 AM. At that time, Pradeep was not home. His sister picked up the phone. Hearing 'This is Aamir Khan speaking,' she thought it was a prank call. She scolded him, saying, 'Why are you being mischievous?' Later, Aamir made him talk to writer Umashankar Pathak, whom the family recognized. Then everyone believed that the call was indeed from Aamir Khan. Aamir called Pradeep to his office the next day, had him sign the film's contract, and gave him a check for the signing amount. This is how he got work in the film Lagaan. Salman did not get Ghajini because of Pradeep Rawat On March 27, 2025, during the press meet for the film Sikandar in Mumbai, Salman was asked if he had indeed been offered Ghajini before Aamir. To this, the actor had said, 'I have also heard that. I heard this from Pradeep. We call him Ghajini. He is my friend. We have done 4-5 films together. He once said, Murugadoss (director of Ghajini) is very disciplined, so sincere, how will Salman work with him, Salman gets very angry.' Salman further said, 'Meaning, he has done 5 films with me, and after that, he says this. After that, I haven't met the poor guy. If I meet him, I will ask him when I ever got angry with him.' Pradeep Rawat had 2 marriages Talking about Pradeep Rawat's personal life, he got married twice. According to an NBT report, his first marriage did not last long and they divorced in about five and a half months. Pradeep Rawat had stated that his first wife had made false accusations against him and his family, although the matter was later resolved. After this, he met Kalyani Rawat, who is associated with the South film industry. The two dated each other for some time and got married in 2006. They have a son from this marriage, named Vikramaditya Rawat.