Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who was suffering from age-related illness for years, has passed away at the age of 98. The actor was admitted twice to the hospital in the last month.
According to the news agency ANI, Dr. Jalil Parkar, the pulmonologist at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital, confirmed the news of his death.
Earlier, speaking about the health condition of the cinema icon, his wife and actress Saira Banu said that his health was stable but he wasn’t going to be discharged yet. He was once again hospitalized to the intensive care unit of a city hospital following a complaint of breathlessness as a precautionary measure, ten days after he was discharged.
Known as the tragedy king in Indian cinema, Dilip Kumar acted in over 65 films in his legendary career. Kumar made his acting debut in 1944 with Jwar Bhata. Three years after, the 1947 drama Jugnu opposite Noor Jehan, was the first major hit for Kumar. He was part of the movies like Daag (1954), Devdas (1955), Azaad (1956), Naya Daur (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961), Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Dastaan (1972), Kranti (1981), and Karma (1986). He was last seen in Qila in 1998.