Veteran actor Kader Khan dies at 81

Veteran actor Kader Khan has died in a Canada hospital on Monday at the age of 81, reports NDTV citing Indian news agency PTI.

The actor died after an prolonged illness, Kader Khan's son Sarfaraz told PTI.

"My dad has left us. He passed away on Dec 31 at 6 pm Canadian time due to prolonged illness. He slipped into a coma in the afternoon. He was in the hospital for 16-17 weeks."

Kader Khan's son also confirmed that the last rites will be performed in Canada.

"The last rites will be performed here in Canada only. Our entire family is here and we live here so we are doing it," Sarfaraz added.

On Friday, Kader Khan, developed breathing issues and the doctors transferred him from a regular ventilator to a BiPAP ventilator.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan quoted a tweet from one his fans on Twitter, who posted an old picture of both the actors and wrote, "Prayers and duas."

Last year, unconfirmed media reports stated that Kader Khan had been moved to Canada for medical treatment. However, later, Fauzia Arshi, director of his last film ‘Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi’, told news agency IANS that, "He (Kader Khan) has been in Canada since three to four months. He is alright. He is in Canada because his elder son stays there, so he is with him. There's nothing like was he rushed to Canada or anything of that nature. Everything is fine." Kader Khan has reportedly been in a wheelchair after his knee surgery in 2015.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan on Oct 22, Kader Khan was best known for his work as an actor and a writer on numerous films. He has worked with directors like Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra.

As an actor he appeared in over 300 films after his debut in the 1973’s Daag, starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he played the role of a prosecution attorney.

He was also a prolific screenwriter for Bollywood films from the 1970s to 1999 and wrote the script for over 200 films.

Khan graduated from Ismail Yusuf College under Bombay University. Before entering the film industry in the early 1970s, he taught at MH Saboo Siddik College of Engineering, Mumbai as a professor of Civil Engineering.