MUMBAI: A mainstay of Bollywood for 21 years, the man who reportedly earned his recognition in the Guinness World Records as the film industry‘s most typecast actor Jagdish Raj is no more. He is known for his role as a police inspector in at least 144 films.

Back in the 1960s, a big Hollywood casting director called Harvey Wood came and selected him for a police inspector‘s role. Although he had done many films before as hero and villain, but he found popularity reprising the role of police inspector time and again.

Twenty years later, he bumped into Harvey Wood again. He looked at him and said, "Bloody hell! You‘re still in the same uniform." He asked Raj to mail him the details of all his films as he was onto a world record for the most occupational role. Later the Guinness book people sent a team to Bombay to verify facts before they entered his name in their book.

Born in Pakistan, Raj was featured in releases including Deewar, Don, Shakti, Mazdoor, and Imaan Dharam before he retired in 1992. He‘s also known as the father of Bollywood star Anita Raj.

Raj had been in and out of hospital for the past two years and had respiratory problems. He died in Mumbai at 84 due to a respiratory arrest on 28 July, according to his son-in-law Rakesh Malhotra.