Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, popularly known as the tragedy king of Bollywood, died on Wednesday morning after a prolonged illness. He was 98.

Since Tuesday, Dilip Kumar was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Hinduja Hospital, a non-COVID-19 facility, after he complained of breathlessness. "He passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30 am," Dr Jalil Parkar, who had been treating the actor, told PTI.

Dilip Kumar

Faisal Farooqui, a family friend, shared the news from the actor's Twitter handle: "With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return."

In the last one month, the "Devdas" actor had been in and out of hospitals and the family was hoping he would get better.

India mourns loss of the legend

As soon as the news broke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter handle to mourn the loss of the legendary actor. The PM called the unfortunate demise of Dilip Kumar a loss to the cultural world and wrote, "Dilip Kumar Ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world. Condolences to his family, friends and innumerable admirers. RIP."

Dilip Kumar
Dilip KumarVarinder Chawla

The news has undoubtedly saddened millions of Dilip Kumar fans and the members of Bollywood film fraternity including Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee and others offered their condolences on social media. Check out Bollywood's reaction to Dilip Kumar's death:

Dilip Kumar - The legend

Born as Yusuf Khan, Dilip Kumar was a trendsetter in Bollywood in terms of acting and has inspired generations of actors across the various streams of Indian cinema. With a career span of more than five decades, the 'Mughal-e-Azam' star was regarded as one of the greatest actors that India has ever seen.

Dilip Kumar was best-known for his films such as Devdas, Mughal-e-Azam, Gunga Jamuna, Ram Aur Shyam, Naya Daur, Madhumati, Kranti, Vidhaata, Shakti and Mashaal, to name just a few. He debuted in films with Jwar Bhata in 1944, however, the film and his work did not garner much attention of the audience. It was with Jugnu that released in 1947 that he clinched his first box office hit.

Guinness World Records

In 1949, Dilip Kumar starred in Andaz with Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and that film made Dilip Kumar a big star. He was the first actor to win the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 1954 and won it a total of eight times. He and Shah Rukh Khan jointly hold the record for most Filmfare trophies.

Dilip Kumar also features in the Guinness World Records for winning the maximum number of awards by an Indian actor. He is also credited as the first method actor in India. He was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015. The actor was last seen on-screen in the film Qila in 1998. 

Our deepest condolences to the late legendary actor's wife Saira Banu and his family. May his soul rest in peace.

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