Nirmal Pandey, known for his role of Vikram Mallah in "Bandit Queen", died Thursday morning following a massive heart attack. He was 48.

He is survived by his wife Archana Pandey.

Nirmal's "Lahore" is releasing Friday and director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan says he was shocked to hear the news.

"I just got to know from Sushant Singh that he is no more and I'm rushing to the hospital... I had a word with him two days ago and he was supposed to come tomorrow (Friday) to shoot the making of 'Lahore' alongside Sushant, Saurabh Shukla and Mukesh Rishi, " Chauhan told over phone.

"He plays a soft-hearted Pakistani Anwar Sheikh in the movie. He has a very meaty and powerful role in the movie. But unfortunately, I will not be able to show him the film, " he added.

A National School of Drama alumnus, Nirmal began his career with theatre. He was associated with London-based theatre group, Tara, and did plays like "Heer Ranjha", and "Antigone". In his career he acted in around 125 plays.

After doing bit roles in movies, he got his big break in Shekhar Kapur's acclaimed film "Bandit Queen" (1996) and in the same year he featured in Amol Palekar's "Daayra" and Sudhir Mishra's "Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi". In 1998, he did "Train To Pakistan" and next year featured in "Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain".

He also acted in several television serials including "Hatim" and "Princess Dollie Aur Uska Magic Bag".