Dilip Kumar,Yusuf Khan legendary actor, passes away at 98
Dilip Kumar, a famous actor and recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, has passed away as the age of 98
Legendary actor Mohammed Yusuf Khan, known professionally as Dilip Kumar, passed away on July 7 due to prolonged illness. He was 98 years old.
The news of Yousuf’s demise was confirmed by Dr. Jalil Parkar, the pulmonologist treating the actor at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital. Kumar is survived by his wife Saira Banu, who is also a renowned actor.
The veteran actor was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a non-COVID-19 hospital in Mumbai’s suburban Khar on June 29 following complaints of breathlessness as a “precautionary measure”. This had come 10 days after he was discharged.
He was earlier admitted to the same hospital on June 6 due to episodes of breathlessness. He was then diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion — a build-up of excess fluid between the layers of the pleura outside the lungs and underwent a successful pleural aspiration procedure, news reports had suggested earlier.
He was born in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar area of Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and made his film debut with Jwar Bhata (1944). However, his first box office hit came in the form of Jugnu in 1947.
Yousuf’s career spanned over five decades with several hits including Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Naya Daur and Ram Aur Shyam. His last big screen appearance was the 1998 film Qila.
He was one of the last surviving stars of the Hindi film industry’s 1940s–1960s ‘Golden Age’.
He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour, as well as the Nishan-e-Imtiaz — one of the highest civil decorations conferred by Pakistan.
Fluent in his first language Hindko, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi and English, among others, Kumar won the ‘Best Actor’ Filmfare Award a record eight times and was honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994.
