Actor Sajid Khan, known for Mother India and Maya, passes away

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.

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.

“He had been battling cancer for a while. He passed away on Friday (December 22),” the actor’s only son Sameer told PTI.

According to Sameer, his father had settled in Kerala with his second wife.

“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 added.

The actor was laid to rest at the Kayamkulam Town Juma Masjid in Kerala’s Alappuzha district.

After Mother India, which was nominated for the Oscars, Khan played the title role in Mehboob Khan’s Son of India.