The ex-CBFC chairperson, one for making the hard call and never shying from a headline, was found dead at his home in Mumbai on June 4, 2026. You could say the producer of Aankhen and Andaz leaves in his wake a mix of box-office savvy and the kind of culture-war sparks that have the town talking still.
What happened on June 4, 2026
According to the family, Pahlaj Nihalani let out his last breath at 9:30 am at his Mumbai abode. “With profound grief we write to you,” they said in a note to friends and well-wishers, “to inform you of his passing on 4th June 2026.” The body will be laid to rest at 3 pm at the Santacruz Hindu Crematorium.
Word on the street is that he had been up against some liver problems for a while. But the family has not made any official pronouncement on the cause of death.
Key details at a glance
Here is what we know from the family and those in his orbit:
– 76 years old; a veteran of the industry and the CBFC
– Time of death: 9:30 am at his place in Mumbai
– 3 pm for the last rites at Santacruz
– Complications from the liver are reported, but unconfirmed
– His time as CBFC chair was 2015-2017
Why he mattered to Bollywood
Put him in the producer’s chair and Nihalani would put together a slate for the mainstream without a second thought. His name is on Talaash, Rangeela Raja, Julie 2 and of course, Aankhen and Andaz – all very much of his commercial make-up.
Then there are the stars he put on the map, like Govinda and Chunky Pandey, when they were just starting out. He has been at it since 1982 with Haathkadi, and then Aandhi-Toofan in 1985, and the list goes on.
He was in the political arena as well, churning out the Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi jingle before the 2014 polls. It was a move that, like so many of his, had people on both sides of the fence.
The CBFC tenure that kept everyone talking
When he was in charge of the Central Board of Film Certification from 2015 to 2017, things were far from dull. There was no shortage of hot takes on whether he was certifying or censoring.
To some he was a no-nonsense regulator. To others, he was overstepping. In a job that is meant to be low-profile, he made sure he was in the conversation.
A trade analyst account
One in the know says Nihalani had been in and out of the hospital for the last month or so before he was brought home. “It wasn’t his heart,” the analyst says, and while he didn’t drink, the liver was where the trouble was.
That squares with the reports of his health, even if the family has yet to put a stamp on it.
The work he leaves behind
If you look at his films, you see what used to pack the single screens and now has to make its way in a multiplex world. Aankhen and Andaz were hits with the common man. With Julie 2 and Rangeela Raja he showed he would put his money where his mouth was, even as the market changed.
All the hullabaloo over his time at the board aside, he was a producer to the core who knew how to read a Friday release. That was his way of looking at things, and it was bound to get a reaction.
What comes next
All eyes will be on the Santacruz Hindu Crematorium at 3 for the final send-off. You can count on some fine tributes to a man who might have ruffled a few feathers but was never uninteresting.
We are on this story and will be back with any word from the family or the outpouring of reactions from around the town.
