"My father passed away last night (Friday) at 9.30 p.m. in his sleep at home after a prolonged illness," the acting guru's son Rohit Taneja told IANS on Saturday morning. Roshan Taneja is survived by his wife Mithika Taneja and sons Rohit Taneja and Rahul Taneja.

Many of his students took to their Twitter accounts to offer condolences. Shabana Azmi paid condolences to the Taneja family and tweeted: "Late last night came to the sad news that Roshan Taneja passed away. He was my Guru at FTII and the only person whose feet I touched. I was privileged to be trained in acting by him."

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"A very sad day for me. My guru Roshan Taneja expired yesterday. I owe my career to him. Rest in peace," wrote actor Rakesh Bedi, who has done several films and television shows.

National Award-winning filmmaker Atanu Ghosh tweeted: "With him, ended an illustrious era spanning more than five decades. The greatest teacher of method acting we ever had. The revered guru to no less than four generations of brilliant actors. Rest in peace sir."

Roshan Taneja is known as the 'pioneer of method acting' in India and is held in high regard in the Hindi film industry. He had been training talent since the 1960s, first at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune and later at his private school in Mumbai, the Roshan Taneja School of Acting.

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