Bollywood

oi-Bhargav Reddy

Leading actor Dilip Kumar, who was suffering from a long illness, died at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday morning. He is 98. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and several Bollywood stars including Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar and Vidya Balan visited Dilip Kumar’s wife Saira Bhanu’s residence in Bandra to pay their respects to him. Dilip Kumar’s body was buried in the Juhu Muslim Cemetery in Santa Cruz West, covered with the tricolor flag of the Indian national flag.

Dilip Kumar was buried at Juhu Cemetery in Mumbai. The actor breathed his last at Hinduja Hospital at 7:30 am today. His wife Saira Bhanu was by his side in his last moments. Uddhav Thackeray was cremated with government formalities for a Hindi film icon. Dilip Kumar, popularly known as the ‘Tragedy King’, was admitted to the hospital on June 30.

News of the actor’s death was confirmed to his family friend Faisal Farooq on Twitter. Dilip Kumar was admitted to the hospital for the first time on June 6 and was kept on oxygen support and stable. Saira Bhanu was only 22 years old when Dilip Kumar, 44, proposed marriage to Saira Bhanu. They agreed, and in 1976 they were reunited.

Actor Dilip Kumar was born in Pakistan in 1922 before moving to India in 1935. Final prayers for the late actor (Namaz-e-Janaja) are taking place near his ancestral haveli in Peshawar, Pakistan (parallel to the final rites in India), one of the organizers told Indian Express.

Story first published: Wednesday, July 7, 2021, 17:39 [IST]