Mumbai: Veteran actor Dilip Kumar passed away at the age of 98 at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital.
Dilip Kumar was taken to the hospital last Wednesday after he complained of breathlessness – the second time he was admitted in the same month.
Dr. Jalil Parkar, who was treating Dilip Kumar, told news agency PTI, “He passed away at 7.30 am due to prolonged illness.”
Dilip Kumar was earlier taken to the hospital on June 6 and was kept on oxygen support and stable. Dilip Kumar was discharged on June 11.
Dilip Kumar was battling diseases ranging from kidney disease to pneumonia for the last few years.
A few years back, the actor spent his 94th birthday in the hospital, where he was being treated for fever and swollen feet. Dilip Kumar, who would have turned 99 in December, is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Saira Banu.
Dilip Kumar, real name Yusuf Khan, appeared in some of the most iconic and historical films of Indian cinema, including Naya Daur, Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Ram Aur Shyam, Andaz, Madhumati, and Ganga Jamuna. Film lore has it that he rejected the role of Sheriff Ali in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, which was eventually played by Omar Sharif.
Dilip Kumar’s career spanned several decades, starting in the ’40s. He transitioned from playing the romantic-tragic lead to character roles from the ’80s on, in films such as Kranti, Shakti, Karma, and Saudagar. 1998’s Qila was his last film.
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