Actor Irrfan Khan, who became one of India's best-known exports with roles in the hit films Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi, and Jurassic World, has died after being admitted to a Mumbai hospital with a colon infection.
He was 53.
“Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him,” a statement released by the actor’s team on April 29 said.
Khan made his Bollywood debut in the 1988 drama “Salaam Bombay!,” and later made the rare crossover to Hollywood, working with directors such as Wes Anderson, and Ang Lee.
He was diagnosed in 2018 with a rare neuroendocrine cancer and underwent months of treatment in Britain.
Khan won a number of film awards in India and a viewers’ choice award at the Cannes festival 2013 for his role in the Indian romantic drama “The Lunchbox,” a year after appearing in the Hollywood blockbuster The Amazing Spider-man.
Fellow Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted that Khan was an “incredible talent,” while Prime Minister Narendra lamented Khan’s death as "a loss to the world of cinema and theatre.”
Khan's last Bollywood movie, “Angrezi Medium,” a sequel to one of his biggest hits, “Hindi Medium” (2017), was released before India went into a lockdown last month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters