Mumbai: Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar passed away on Wednesday at the age of 98 years. He was undergoing treatment at Hinduja Hospital.
The veteran was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) on June 30 due to age-related health issues. It was the second time he was admitted to the hospital in the same month. Earlier, he was rushed to hospital on June 6 when he complained of breathlessness.
A statement issued on Dilip Kumar’s Twitter account reads, “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago.
We are from God and to Him we return. – Faisal Farooqui”.
He is now survived by his wife and veteran actor Saira Banu.
Dilip Kumar who is known as ‘Tragedy King’ had acted in over 65 movies. He is known for his iconic roles in movies like ‘Devdas’ (1955), ‘Naya Daur’ (1957), ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), ‘Ganga Jamuna’ (1961), ‘Kranti’ (1981), and ‘Karma’ (1986). The actor was last seen on the big screen in 1998 movie ‘Qila’.
Life of Dilip Kumar
The real name of the veteran actor is Mohammed Yusuf Khan. He is known professionally as Dilip Kumar.
He was born on December 11, 1922, to Ayesha Begum and Lala Ghulam Sarwar Khan at home in Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar, British India.
Although his first movie ‘Jwar Bhata’ was released in 1944, he remained unnoticed until the release of the film ‘Jugnu’ in 1947. Jugnu became his first hit movie.
In 1966, he married actress Saira Banu who is 22 years younger than him. The couple does not have any children.
His two superhit movies, Mughal-e-Azam and Naya Daur were re-released in theaters in 2004 and 2008 after fully colourizing them.