Mother India actor Sajid Khan dies in his early 70s after battling cancer

Actor Sajid Khan, who played the younger version of Sunil Dutt's Birju in Mehboob Khan's Mother India and later rose to prominence with international projects such as Maya and The Singing Filipina, has died following a battle with cancer. Khan was in his early 70s.

Sajid Khan's son shares a statement

Sajid Khan's only son Sameer told PTI, "He had been battling cancer for a while. He passed away on Friday (December 22)."

Sameer further revealed that his father took to philanthropy and moved to Kerala with his second wife after being away from limelight. "My father was adopted by Rajkumar Pitamber Rana and Sunita Pitamber and fostered by filmmaker Mehboob Khan. He was not active in films for a while and was mostly involved in philanthropy. He used to come to Kerala quite often and he liked it here, remarried, and settled here," Sameer said.

Speaking to PTI, Sameer also shared that Sajid Ali was adopted by Pitamber Rana and Sunita Pitamber. He was further fostered by filmmaker Mehboob Khan, who later cast him in his film. Meanwhile, Sajid Khan last rites took place at the Kayamkulam Town Juma Masjid in Kerala's Alappuzha district.

Who was Sajid Khan?

Sajid Khan began his career as a child artist in the entertainment industry. His first film was Mother India that released back in 1955. The movie was directed by Mehboob Khan. Not just Mother India, but the actor has worked in films inlcuding Son of India, Maya, My Funny Girl, Do Number Ke Ameer, Mandir Masjid, and Zindagi Aur Toofan, among others.

According to reports, the actor has worked with many Bollywood A-listers inlcuding Nargis, Maurice King, Dick Clark, Shashi Kapoor, Donald O'Connor, James Ivory, Tina Revilla, Kiran Kumar, Yogita Bali, Nutan, and more. 

(With inputs from PTI)