IANS/Jalandhar Well-known comedian, actor and satirist Jaspal Bhatti died in a road accident near Punjab’s Nakodar town, 40km from here, early yesterday, police said here.Bhatti’s car hit a tree along the highway while he was on his way to Jalandhar for the promotion of his latest film Power Cut. Police said the accident happened around 3am.Bhatti, 57, was rushed to a hospital in Jalandhar where doctors declared him dead.His son Jasraj was also injured in the accident along with the film’s heroine Surili Gautam and another person. They were being treated in a hospital in Jalandhar, 150km from the state capital Chandigarh.Power Cut, which Bhatti had produced and directed, was to be released today. The film was to launch his son.Sources said Bhatti was on a 40-day tour for the promotion of the film. The tour was to end yesterday with a media conference in Jalandhar.Bhatti had been a popular face on television and Bollywood films. His TV shows Ulta-Pulta and Flop Show entertained TV audiences in the late 1980s and 1990s. He also directed a film Mahaul Theek Hai, a satire on the police, administration and society, in 1999.Bhatti, perhaps the most famous Sikh comedian, acted in several Bollywood films.It was during his days at Chandigarh’s prestigious Punjab Engineering College (PEC), also the alma mater of late astronaut Kalpana Chawla, that he launched his Nonsense Club in the early 1980s to poke fun at social evils and issues. There was no stopping Bhatti from then on.Though he joined the Punjab government as an engineer, Bhatti’s heart and soul lay in comedy and satire. Starting as a cartoonist with the English daily The Tribune in the late 1980s, Bhatti later came up with the Ulta-Pulta on national channel Doordarshan. Though he was Chandigarh based, he was a frequent traveller to Mumbai and Delhi for films, TV appearances and shows.Married to Savita Bhatti, who acted with him in TV shows and Punjabi films, Bhatti had set up his MAD Arts and film school at Mohali, near Chandigarh, three years ago. His son was also involved with him in the venture and film production.It was at his film school that Bhatti set up a ‘factory of foundation stones’ in November last year, given the number of foundation stones that were being laid by politicians in the run-up to Punjab’s assembly elections held in January this year.The seriousness of his comedy could be gauged from the fact that the Election Commission of India last year engaged him as their brand ambassador for their awareness campaign.“I pick up things from simple things in life of everyone. The spoofs on social and corruption issues are liked by people a lot since they can relate to these,” Bhatti said earlier this year.Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal described Bhatti as a “multi-faceted personality and a true son of the soil.”“Bhatti, through his rare sarcastic humour and wit made enormous contribution in sensitising the general public, especially at the grass roots level in eradicating social evils from the society,” Badal said in his condolence message.Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Bhatti was known for highlighting the problems of the common man in a satirical manner.“He will be long remembered for his television series Flop Show and mini capsule Ulta Pulta,” Hooda said.Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni said: “Bhatti will always be remembered for his portrayal of the problems of the common man. He truly pioneered the comedy content on TV, especially through Doordarshan. His TV shows left a deep imprint on the minds of the common people. He always regaled the audience with his subtle, quiet and honest humour.”