Lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar took to Twitter to praise late actor Rishi Kapoor’s latest film ‘Sharmaji Namkeen’. Akhtar thanks actor Paresh Rawal for stepping in after Kapoor’s demise and went on to praise Kapoor was his exceptionally good performance.?

He wrote, “Watched Sharma ji Namkeen . So well written and directed . Thank you Paresh Rawal saheb for your most unusual and great contribution . Now my friend Chintu , ultimately it is your show . You have hit the last ball out of the stadium . Tell me ,why we all won’t miss you for ever.”

The film, which was recently released on OTT, follows the story of a retired man who cooks for a kitty group. So while the women of the group respect him and admire his cooking abilities, this job is embarrassing for his family. Kapoor was in the process of shooting the film when he passed away. Rawal filled in for him and so, the protagonist is played by two different actors.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Rishi Kapoor’s son, actor Ranbir Kapoor had spoken about how his dad was worried about completing the film. Just when he had started shooting for the film, he was diagnosed with cancer and was rushed to the US for treatment. “It used to pain him, it used to disturb him that he started a film and he could not complete it,” Ranbir Kapoor had said. In fact, he had plans to come back and shoot the film. However, unfortunately, he passed away and couldn’t do so. Ranbir Kapoor has also thanked Pawal for stepping in for his father. “We all thought that the film wouldn't be completed and it was a very tough time. It was then that Mr Paresh Rawal stepped in and helped us complete the film. It was very generous of him to take up this challenge because one character being played by two different actors is extremely rare in the film world,” he had said earlier.