Bollywood stars remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee as 'great leader'

Mumbai: Bollywood stars on Friday paid their tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who breathed his last on August 16.

Actress Esha Gupta, while speaking to the media, expressed her grief on the demise of Vajpayee, who was her maternal grandfather's cousin.

"My parents and my whole family was there at the prayer meet since last night. But I think it was my luck that I spent my whole life around him (Atal Bihari Vajpayee). He and my maternal grandfather studied law together at the University of Kanpur. I don't think there is any politician or minister like him. Nobody in the country talks against him" said the 'Commando 2' star.

Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor's son Harshvardhan Kapoor also mourned the loss of the veteran leader and said, "He was a great leader, and very sad to lose people of such inspiration."

Earlier, celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Javed Akhtar, Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, Priyanka Chopra, Madhur Bhandarkar, and Paresh Rawal paid their homage following the death of Vajpayee.

The 93-year-old BJP veteran breathed his last on Thursday at Delhi's All India Institutes of Medical Science (AIIMS) following a prolonged illness. He was cremated with full state honour on Friday.

Vajpayee, who led the National Democratic Alliance government from 1998 to 2004, was the first-ever member of the BJP to become India's Prime Minister.