Veteran actor and screenwriter Kadar Khan passes away in Canada

Veteran Bollywood actor and screenwriter Kader Khan, who acted in over 300 films in a prolific acting career spanning across four decades, has died. Aged 81, Khan breathed his last in a hospital in Canada on Monday.

His son Sarfaraz Khan told news agency PTI that the actor died due to prolonged illness. "My dad has left us. He passed away on December 31 at 6 PM as per Canadian time due to prolonged illness. He slipped into coma in the afternoon. He was in the hospital for 16-17 weeks," Sarfaraz told PTI.

Sarfaraz also confirmed that the last rites will be performed in Canada. "The last rites will be performed here in Canada only. We have our entire family here and we live here, so we are doing it," Sarfaraz added.

Suffering from supranuclear palsy, Khan was not keeping well for quite some time. He was hospitalized on 28 December 2018 complaining of breathlessness in Canada and was put on a BiPAP ventilator.

Born on 22^nd October, 1937, in Kabul, Kadar Khan made his acting debut in the year 1973 with Yash Chopra’s Daag, starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee in lead roles. After his debut film, he never looked back and delivered one outstanding performance after another. His death is a sad loss Hindi cinema.

As soon as the news of his sad demise was confirmed by his son, many eminent personalities from the industry took to Twitter to offer their condolences to the bereaved family.

“Kadar Khan passes away. Sad depressing news. My prayers and condolences. A brilliant stage artist a most compassionate and accomplished talent on film. "A writer of eminence; in most of my very successful films. A delightful company and a mathematician," wrote megastar Amitabh Bachchan who worked with Khan on many successful films like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) and Shahenshah (1988).

Remembering the great actor, Anupam Kher wrote, “Kader Khan Saab was one of the finest actors of our country. It was a joy and a learning experience to be on the sets with him. His improvisational skills were phenomenal. His humour was eternal and original. He was a wonderful writer. We will miss him & his brilliance.??.”